Osmunda.] filices. 441 



passing into the segments of the simply pinnate summit of the frond. Fertile 

 pinnae below the barren ones with linear segments seldom above 4 or 5 lines 

 long. 



Hongkong, Harland ; Tank Ravine, Urquhart. Not known out of the island. 



3. O. javanica, Blume; Hook, in Kew Journ. Bot. ix. 360. Fronds 1 

 to 2 ft. high or more, glabrous, simply pinnate. Barren segments linear or 

 linear-lanceolate, 3 to 6 in. long, entire or more or less deeply serrate. Fer- 

 tile pinnae occupying the centre, or rarely the base or summit of the frond, 

 each pinna pinnatifid or almost pinnate, with numerous globular or oblong- 

 segments (or clusters of spore-cases). — 0. Vachellii, Hook. Ic. PI. t. 15. 



In ravines, Hinds, Champion, and others. Widely spread over India and the Archipelago, 

 extending northwards to Mantchuria and Japan. 



3. LYGODIUM, Sw. 



Sori oblong or linear, covering the under side of small lobes which either 

 protrude from the margin of the frond-segments or form distinct parts of the 

 frond, each sorus divided into 2 rows of compartments containing each a 

 single spore-case and covered by a bract-like indusium. Spore-cases trans- 

 versely oblong, opening by a longitudinal slit, the upper end turned downwards 

 and marked with longitudinal striae. — Climbing Fems. Fronds pinnately or 

 dichotomously divided, inserted on the main stem or branches, in divaricate 

 pairs, usually on a very short common petiole. 



A small tropical and subtropical genus, common to the New and the Old World, one spe- 

 cies extending into temperate N. America. 



Fronds in each pair dichotomously divided 1. L. circinatum. 



Fronds in each pair pinnately divided. 



Segments articulate on the thickened end of the petiolule .... 2. i. scandens. 



Segments continuous with and decurrent on the petiolule .... 3. L.japo?iicum. 



1. If circinatum, Sw. ; Presl, Tent. Pterid. Suppl. 100. Stems climb- 

 ing to a great height, and as well as the fronds perfectly glabrous. Fronds 

 of each pair stipitate, either deeply pedately lobed, or divided into 2 deeply 

 2- or 3 -lobed segments ; lobes linear-oblong, from a few inches to above a 

 foot long, \ to 1 in. broad when barren, narrower in the fruiting part, continu- 

 ous with and slightly decurrent on the petiolule. Sori 1 to 2 lines long, pro- 

 jecting from the margin, usually in the lower half of the lobes. — L. dichoto- 

 mum, Sw. ; Presl, 1. c. ; Hook, and Grev. Ic. Fl. t. 55. 



Hongkong, Dill, Wright ; in the Happy Valley, Urquhart ; in a ravine of Mount Gough, 

 and plentiful behind the Buddhist Temple, Wilford. In the Malayan Peninsula, the Archi- 

 pelago, and the Philippines. 



2. Li. scandens, Sw. ; Presl, Tent. Pterid. Suppl. 102. Stems rather 

 slender but climbing to a considerable extent, glabrous or slightly pubescent. 

 Pairs of fronds usually petiolate. Each frond pinnate. Segments 5 to 1 or 

 more, from cordate-ovate to oblong-lanceolate or hastate, varying in the Hong- 

 kong specimens from \ to 1^ in. long, but much longer in some Indian ones, 

 often shortly lobed at the base, and always articulate on a slight thickening of 

 the apex of the petiolule, which persists on the common rhachis after the 

 segments have fallen off. Sori short, protruding from the margin of segments 



