76 BURMA, ITS PEOPLE AND PRODUCTIONS. 



divided, lacc-lilic fern, grows stouter upwards, till the stipes devclopes itself into 

 a coarse thick prickly stem ; and towards the end, the tinely dividecl tri]iinnatifid 

 fronds cease aUflj^ethcr, and their place is taken by the large simply-pinnated normal 

 fronds of the above-named fern ! 



This is Lindsaija? Parishii of Baker, Synopsis, ed. 1868, p. 109; among the 

 corrigenda, however, at p. 452, appears the following remark: "Probably one of 

 the very curious abnormal forms of Acrosticliiini sorl/ifolium." This is correct. 15ut, 

 under A. seandens (a common Burmese fern), at p. 412, I find the following observa- 

 tion: " Darallia achiUeifolia, Wall. (Hook. Sp. Fil. Vol. I. p. 195 t. 56 D.) seems 

 to be a deltoid tripinnatitid abnormal form," i.e. of A. seandens. I have little doubt, 

 however, that it is rather a form of A. sorhifolium, for the figure might have been 

 taken from a portion of my specimen, so truly does it represent it ! 1 have another 

 somewhat similar fern, which may be the young state of A. seandens ; and yet another 

 from the late General Munro, from Jamaica (no name), also apparently the young 

 state of some species of climbing Aerosfiefium. 



The note under Bavallia achilliri Julia, Sp. Fil. Vol. I. p. 195, may be read with 

 interest; from it I extract what follows. " Mr. J. Smith finds .similar productions 

 on specimens of his StemeJdana {Acrosticham) seandens from Gumming, and remarks, 

 These abnormal fronds are usually about 3 inches in length and tripinnatitid, not 

 unlike some delicate multifid species of Batallia or Chcilanthes. They are found on 

 a lengthened rachis, like parts of the rhizome. There can be no doubt that it is 

 a peculiar growth, common to more than one species of the genus." To this I 

 would add a suggestion that possibly this is the normal and not the abnormal growth 

 of all species of the StenocMana group of Aerostichnm. It is, I think, not unlikely 

 that they all bi-gin life in this delicate form, gradually developing their coarser and 

 robuster features as they grow up. 



A. (Egenolfia) appendiculaium, TTilld. 



A common fern in rocky places ; and if all its differing forms arc to be lumped 

 together under the name here given (as they are in the Synopsis), certainly a very 

 polymorphous one. JIany ferns have been raised to the rank of species upon less 

 ground than some of the varieties of this one may claim. The common form may be 

 thus described. Gaudex erect or slightly repent ; stipites more or less tufted in 

 consc([Ucnce. That of the barren frond is 3-0 inches long, scaly; frondose portion 

 1 foot or more, simply pinnate ; pinnae numerous, lA-2 inches by A inch wide ; 

 sessile, sometimes crenate only, with a prominent lobe on the upper side close to 

 the rachis, and sometimes deeply pinuatifid, in which case the lobe is less apparent. 

 Fertile frond longer, both in the stipes and the frondose portion : sori sometimes 

 covering the back of the very much narrowed pinnae, as in the crenate form ; some- 

 times, as in the pinnatifid form, appearing as little lumps of fructification only, on a 

 much attenuated mid-rib. 



Eyenolfia (sometimes also called Pol//botr//a) UamiUoniana is a var. of larger 

 growth. E. eostulata is a most elegant and apparently distinct variety, which I find 

 abundantly in only one spot that I can recollect. This is at the 'tsakan immediately 

 before you begin the ascent of Dauua-toung, starting from " Ghristian Village." 

 Hero is what Hooker says of it. " A still more remarkable form than any of those " 

 (previously described) " I have added to the number as var. eoituln/n ; especially that 

 state found by Sir. Parish, distinguished not only by the deeply pinnatifid pinnae, 

 but by the lower pair, both in the sterile and fertile fronds, being again pinnate. 

 The Khasya specimens, however, exhibit quite iutermcdiate forms." — Sp. Fil. Vol. V. 

 p. 252. 



A. (Gymnopteeis) costatuji, TTaJl. 



A. {Gymnopteris) virens, var. Synopsis. 



A handsome fera, frequently met with at the base of old Pagodas, is^-L coslatum, 

 Wall., var. nndulatum {Jenkinsia iindtdata of Hook. Gen. Fil. t. 75). Caudex stout, 

 slightly repent; stipes 1-1 A- foot long, slightly furfuraccous ; fi-onds about the same 

 length, simply pinnate, 18-20 pairs, with a terminal one; barren ones ovate-lanceo- 

 late, pointed, about 5 inches long by 11 broad, crisped and wavy at the margins; 



