446 filices. [Lmdtatr. 



portion ; the stipes slender, without scales. Segments numerous, nearly ses- 

 sile, obliquely fan-shaped, seldom above ^ in. broad ; the dichotomous veins 

 starting from the base without a midrib. Son continuous all round the outer 

 margin. Barren segments acutely denticulate. — L. polymorpha, Hook, and 

 Grev. Ie. Fil. t. 75. 



In ravines and in the Happy Valley woods, Urquhart, Lorrain, Wilford, Wright. In 

 tropical Asia from Assam and Khasia to the Archipelago, in N. Australia, and northwards to 

 S. China. 



2. L. ensifolia, Sw. ; Hook. Spec. Fil. i. 220 ; Hook, and Grev. Ic. 

 Fil. t. 111. Ehizome rather thick, shortly creeping. Fronds erect, firm, 1 

 to 1^ ft. high, simply pinnate. Segments usually 5 to 9, rarely 12 or 13, or 

 in the outer fronds 3 only, oblong-linear or lanceolate, acute, acuminate, or 

 obtuse, 4 to 8 in. long, very shortly petiolulate, or the upper ones confluent, 

 all undivided. Veins starting from a midrib, forked and mostly anastomosing. 

 Sori usually continuous a great part of the length of the segment. 



In ravines and in the Happy Valley woods, Champion and others. Dispersed over the 

 tropical regions of the Old World. 



3. L. heterophylla, Dry and. ; Hook. Spec. Fil. i. 223. Ehizome short, 

 thick, horizontal. Fronds erect, slender but stiff, f to 1^ ft. high, usually 

 bipinnate in the lower portion. Primary pinnae numerous ; the lower ones 

 when pinnate often 3 to 4 in. long, with the lower segments short and rhom- 

 boidal, and ending in a lanceolate one ; the upper pinnae passing into shorter 

 lanceolate undivided ones, or sometimes all the pinnae lanceolate and undi- 

 vided, but then never more than 2 in. long, and usually much less. Veins 

 proceeding from a midiib, forking and anastomosing almost as in L. ensifolia, 

 excepting in the shortened lower segments of the pinnae where they are often 

 dichotomous from the base as in L.fiabellulata. — L. variabilis, Hook, and 

 Arn. Bot. Beech. 257, t. 52. 



In woods and shady places, Champion and others. In S. China, the Philippine Islands, 

 and the Malayan Peninsula, and northward to Loochoo. 



11. ADIANTUM, Linn. 



Sori continuous or interrupted along the margin of the frond-segments, 

 with an indusium proceeding from the margin and opening along the inner 

 edge. Spore-cases inserted on the inside of the indusium. Fronds usually 

 tufted or sometimes with a creeping rhizome, simple, pinnate, or decompound ; 

 the stipes usually slender, black, and shining, with subulate scales or hairs at 

 their base ; the segments oblique, and often fan-shaped or reniform. Veins 

 forked or anastomosing. 



A considerable genus, common to the New and the Old World, chiefly tropical or sub- 

 tropical, with a few species extending into more temperate regions, both in the northern and 

 southern hemispheres. 



Fronds simply pinnate. 



Segments articulate on a slender petiolule 1. A. hmulatum. 



Segments nearly sessile, lobed, hairy 2. A. caudatum. 



Stipes forked or pedate. Pinnae pinnate 3. A.flabellulatum. 



1. A. lunula turn, Burm. ; Hook. Spec. Fil. ii. 11; Hook, and Grev. 

 Ic. Fil. t. 104. Fronds tufted, 6 to 10 in. long, simply pinnate. Segments 



