2. POLYPODIACE.^. [8. Odontosoria. 



hairy (densely villous in the type, our plant is probably var. calvescens. 

 Hook.). 

 Mayurbhanj, elev. 3500 ft. ! Fr. May- June. 



2. M. speluncae, 3Ioore. Syn. P. speluncae, L. ; M. strigosa, 8w. ; 



var. flaccida, R. Br. (sp.) ; Davallia polypodioides, Don ; M. 



Khasiyana, Feii. 

 A large handsome fern 4-5 ft. from root to apex of fronds, caudex 

 short erect with capillary scales. Stipes scaberulous with hard- 

 based hairs, more or less glabrescent and glossy, 1-2 ft. long. Frond 

 2-3 -pinnate and pinnatifid, rather flaccid, hairy both sides. Pinnae 

 longest about one -third from the base and attaining 18" with sec. 

 pinnse about 3", but often much smaller and then secondary pinnaj 

 not again pinnate but only cut to the winged rhachis into broadly 

 oblong lobulate and crenate lobes ; lobes with long white hairs 

 beneath and more sparsely hairy above, broadly oblong rounded with 

 a 2-chotomously branched vein, margin sometimes recurved. Sori 

 few, • 03" long and broad, often only 1-2 or up to 6 on a lobe close to 

 the margin and usually at the sinus of a lobule or crenature. 



Pumeah ! Fr. Dec. -Jan. 



This is not at all typical strigosa, but I am not quite sure whether it is Clarke s 

 flaccida. M. strigosa has a very characteristic densely substrigosely indumentum 

 on rhacliis and costse. Oiu- plant closely resembles the plate of Davallia Khasiyana 

 in Lowe's Ferns (pi. 32) except that the margins of lobes are bluntly crenate rather 

 than toothed. It also agrees with a specimen marked Davallia proxima, Thw., at 

 Kew ! The fronds are more flaccid than in most of this group. Clarke (F.N.I., 

 p. 448) says that Bentham has apparently included imder Davallia speluncce the 

 whole of D. polypodioides as well as D. flaccida, R. Br., and he suspects that this 

 is the course which ultimately pteriodologists will take. 



8. ODONTOSORIA, Presl. 

 (Includes Stenoloma, Fee.). 



Stipes often tufted, not articulate on the rhizome. Fronds very 

 pinnately compound or decompound with forked free veins. Sori 

 terminal on the segments, on the tips of the venules but these are 

 not expanded into an evident receptacle, the indusium forming 

 together with the slightly modified opposed lobe of the frond a com- 

 pressed cupular pouch only open at the top. 



1. 0. chinensis, J. Sm. Syn. Stenoloma chinensis, Bedd. ; Tricho- 

 manes chinensis, L. ; Davallia tenuifolia, Sw., and D. chinensis, 

 Sw. 



A very beautiful and graceful fern with fronds tufted on the creeping 

 rhizome which is covered with shining brown scales. Stipes glabrous 

 shining brown 8-18" long, fronds (without stipes) 1-2 ft. long by 

 6-9" broad, ovate or lane. -ovate or lanceolate in outline, 3-pinnate 

 with pinnules cut into linear-obcuneate forked segments bearing 

 1-2 rarely confluent sori at their expanded tips. Pinnae rather 

 distant, alternate, ovate or lanceolate. Rhachis flattened and grooved 

 above, that of the pinnules zigzag. 



Banks of streams in the Saranda forests, Singbhum ! Udeypiu-, Praia's Collector I 

 Fr. Feb.-May. 



1195 



