Asplenium.] 



FILICES. 



453 



branches so as to appear regularly pinnate ; the lower ones of each set usually 

 double, the upper ones simple on the inner side of the vein-branches. — Dipla- 

 slum esculentum, Sw. ; Willd. Spec. v. 354. 



In ravines, Urquhart ; also Hance and Lorrain. In India, from Ceylon and the Peninsula 

 to the Himalaya, in Moulmein, Java, the Feejee Islands, and S. China. 



16. ASPIDIUM, Sw. 



Sori circular, variously dispersed over the under surface of the frond-seg- 

 ments, covered when young by an indusium attached by the centre or by a 

 point near one side, so that when raised all round by the growth of the spore- 

 cases it becomes peltate or more or less reniform. — Rhizome short and thick 

 or creeping. Fronds once, twice, or thrice pinnate, rarely simple. 



A large genus, distributed over almost every part of the globe. It is now usually divided 

 at least into two genera {Aspidium and Nephrodium), according to whether the indusium is 

 peltate or reniform ; but in several of the Hongkong species both forms occur in the same 

 fronds, and generally the adoption of that character does not appear to me to constitute better 

 defined nor more natural genera than Aspidium retained as a whole, and the very numerous 

 smaller genera into which many pteridologists break it up are perhaps still more vague unless 

 when reduced to single species. 

 Fronds once pinnate. 



Pinnae 3 or 5, the lower pair and often the terminal one deeply and 



irregularly lobed 3. A. trifoliatum. 



Pinnae entire or crenate. 



Pinnae large or few. Sori dispersed over the surface. 



Pinnae oblong, 9 to 13 . 4>. A. podophyllum. 



Pinnae ovate-falcate, numerous 5. A.falcatum. 



Pinnae very numerous, articulate on the petiolule. Sori in a sin- 

 gle row near the margin. 



Pinnae 1 to 3 in. long, mostly obtuse 1. A. exaltatmn. 



Pinnae 6 in. long, acuminate 2. A. biserratum. 



Pinnae regularly pinnatifid, with numerous lobes. 

 Veins of adjoining lobes free from each other. 

 Pinnae deeply pinnatifid. 



Lobes oblong, straight or nearly so . . . ' 7. A. Thelgpteris. 



Lobes lanceolate, very falcate 8. A.falcilobum. 



Pinnae semi-pinnatifid 6. A. ciliatum. 



Lower veins of adjoining lobes anastomosing. 



Sori distinct, either near the midrib or scattered 9. A. molle. 



Sori in a close row near the margin of the lobes 10. A. unitum. 



Fronds bipinnate. 



Lowest primary pinnae largest and most compound. Segments 



truncate or adnate at the base 11. A. opacum. 



Lowest primary pinnae not larger than the next. Segments obtuse 



or recurved at the base 12. A. Championi. 



Lowest primary pinnae largest and most compound. Segments 



obliquely cuneate or narrowed at the base 13. A. aristatum. 



1. A. exaltatum, Sw.; Willd. Spec. v. 229. Rhizome short and thick, 

 the fibrous roots forming here and there globular tubers. Fronds 1 to 3 ft. 

 long, weak, simply pinnate. Pinnae numerous, regularly approximate and 

 distichous, oblong-linear or lanceolate, 1 to 2 or rarely 3 in. long, serrate, 

 sessile, truncate at the base, with a protruding angle on the inner side. Stipes 

 with subulate scales, which pass into short woolly hairs on the rhachis or un- 

 der side of the segments. Veins forked, proceeding from the midrib. Sori 



