126 FEKNS OF THE CHITRAL RELIEF EXPEDITION. 



N. ramosum, n. sp. Rhizome procumbent, ligneous, densely 

 clothed, as are the bases of the stipes, with large broad suddenly- 

 acuminate hair-pointed pale brown self-coloured scales. Stipps 

 6-17 in. long, stout, pale brown or straw-coloured, sometimes 

 mottled. Frond 10-24 in. long by 8-13 in. broad, bipinnate in 

 lower part ; rachises slightly winged in upper pinnfe ; lowest pinnaB 

 as long or longer than the next above, and the lowest four or five 

 pairs but Httle diminished in length, diminution thence gradual to 

 apex; rachises straw-coloured, or pale brown, or pale green, more 

 or less clothed with pale coloured linear scales and fibrils, but 

 sometimes glabrous ; frond plumose in appearance. Pinvce as- 

 cendant, 16-80 pairs, besides the deeply pinnatifid apex, distant 

 near base of frond, lowest 5-9^ in. long by 2-4|- in. broad. 

 Pinnules 12-20 pairs, on the lower pinnfe much longest on the 

 lower side, largest towards the middle and then up to 2^ in. long, 

 none ^ in. broad, and all distant, falcate ; oblong for two-thirds 

 their length and then acuminate, cut down to a winged rachis into 

 10-15 segments ; segments in large fronds lobed on both sides, 

 and lobes toothed. Texture herbaceous. Colour pale green, but 

 drying sometimes pale brown. Veins pinnate in segments, and 

 forked in larger lobes. Sari generally absent in lowest two or 

 three pairs of pinnfe, but extending sometimes almost to the apices 

 of fronds and pinnfe, up to six in lowest lobes, medial. Involucres 

 thick, moderate-sized, persistent, brown ; sporanijia pale green when 

 young. 



Hab. Asia : — Afghanistan : Peiwar Kotal, 8000 ft., Major (now 

 Sir Henry) Collett, 1879. Trans-Indus Protected States (on the 

 route to Chitral), 7200-10,000 ft., Harriss ; Gatacre, 1895. Kash- 

 mir, West, 4000-10,000 ft.. Trotter, 1888; MacLeod, 1891 ; McDonell, 

 1891 & 1894 ; Duthie, 1892. Punjab : Hazara District ; Himalaya, 

 between Abbotabad and Murree, 7000-8500 ft., frequent, Trotter, 

 1889-90. Simla Region, 8500-9000 ft., Blanford, 1884; Hope, 

 1886; 7?/m, 1891. N.W. Provinces: Jannoar, 8000 ft.. Gamble, 

 1892-95. Zehri Garhwtil, 8000-9000 ft., Duthie, 1883. 



The characteristic features of this fern are the broad frond, 

 hardly ever reduced at the base ; the very long, broad, and distant 

 pinnfB ; the very long and narrow pinnules ; the pale green colour 

 of the frond, and the almost invariably pale colour of the scales. 

 The distribution seems to be confined to the Western Himalaya 

 and the mountains immediately to the westward of British India ; 

 but in colour it is similar to the less compound .V. pallidum of 

 Bory, which fern I consider to be quite distinct from .Y. rii/idum 

 Desv., and to be near N. odontoloma Moore. Some specimens of 

 N. ramosum approach N. odontoloma, and others xV. marginatum 

 Wall., which varies a good deal in cutting and texture. A', odonto- 

 loma never is broadest at base, as is N. ramosum almost invariably. 

 Perhaps the nearest congener of this species is N. nemoralis, n. sp., 

 Hope MS., a fern with a more limited range, hitherto called N. 

 spinulosum Desv. var. remota : but that species is never truly 

 bipinnate, and it has always a short stipe and dark-coloured 

 scales. 



