450 FILICES. [Notliolana. 



less densely covered underneath ^vith rust-coloured hairs, more loosely scat- 

 tered on the upper side. Larger pinnae about 1 in. long ; segments 1 to 3 

 lines, lobed or pinnatifid, ovate-oblong or obovate. Sori marginal when 

 young, with the edge of the segment slightly turned down over them ; when 

 old often occupying the greater portion of the under surface. — N. pilosa, 

 Hook, and Am. Bot. Beech. 74 and 255. 



Hongkong, Bill, Wriffht, Wilford. Also on the adjacent continent and in the Pacific 

 islands. 



15. ASPLENIUM, Linn. 

 (Diplasium, Sw)) 



Son linear or oblong, scattered on the under smface of the frond-segments, 

 more or less oblique (with reference to the midrib), along one or both sides of 

 a vein, with a longitudinal indusium, straight or slightly curved, proceeding 

 from the vein and opening along the opposite edge. — Rhizome short, with 

 tufted fronds, or creeping. Fronds very various. 



A large genus, distributed over nearly the whole globe. 



Fronds simple. 



Fronds 2 ft. long or more, sessile or nearly so 1. ^. yiidus. 



Fronds less than 1 ft., on a long stipes 2. ^. lancetim. 



Fronds divided. 



Fronds simply pinnate. Segments lanceolate, cuneate or acute 

 at the base (rarely ohtuse). Veins forked. 

 Segments rigid, lanceolate-falcate, serrate. Sori much raised, 



veiy oblique, all single ^. A. macrophyllum . 



Segments few, oblong-lanceolate, entire or scarcely crenate. 



Sori rather oblique, often double 6. A . fraxinifolium . 



Fronds twice or thrice pinnate. Segments small, cuneate. Veins 

 forked. 

 Segments or lobes 3 to 6 lines long, with 2 or more sori in each 4. A. cuneatum. 

 Segments or lobes 1 to \\ lines long, Avith a single sonis on each 3.-4. davallioides. 

 Fronds once to thrice pinnate, with long crenate or pinnatifid 

 segments, truncate or cordate at the base. Veins pinnate. 

 Vein-branches of each set free from those of the adjoining set. 

 Fronds once, rarely twice pinnate, with crenate or scarcely 



lobed pinnse T. A. sylvaticum. 



Fronds once pinnate, with deeply pinnatifid pinnse . . . %. A. Schkuhrii. 



Fronds twice or thrice pinnate ^. A. dilatatum. 



Outer vein-branches of each set anastomosing with those of the 



adjoining set. Fronds mostly thrice pinnate 10. A. esculentum. 



(The insertion oi A.fontanum, Bernh., in the Enumeration of Hongkong Ferns in Seem. 

 Bot. Her. 428, appears to have originated in a mistake.) 



1. A. nidus, Linn. ; Hook. Spec. Fil. iii. 77 ; Bot. Mag. i!. 3101. Fronds 

 simple, entire, lanceolate, sessile or nearly so, in large regular tufts, hollowed 

 in the centre, the larger ones 2 to 6 ft. long, and 3 to 5 in. broad. Veins 

 numerous, nearly transverse, parallel, simple or forked. Sori along the upper 

 or inner side of nearly all the veins, mostly reaching from the midrib to \ or 

 nearly f of their length. — Neottopteris nidus, J. Sm. in Seem. Bot. Her. 427. 



In the Happy VaUey, Urquhart ; behind the Buddhist Temple, Wilford; also Fiance and 

 Seemann. Common in tropical Asia, extending to Australia, and northward to Bonin and 

 Chusan. 



