47 



i. Microlepia platyphylla J. Sm. 



Rhizome thick, creeping. Stipes erect. 

 Fronds 3-4 feet long, three-pinnatifid ; pinnae 

 .large, spreading, 

 ovate, elongate in 

 form with the 

 apices acuminate; 

 ultimate segments 

 broad, bluntish 

 toothed, oblong tri- 

 angular. Surfaces 

 hairy when young, 

 naked when adult. 

 Texture leathery. 

 Sori one in each 

 tooth of the seg- 

 ment. [Fig. 14.] 



Distribution : 

 Madras Presidency 

 throughout the 

 western moun- 

 tains, up to nearly 

 6,000 feet; Ceylon; 

 Himalayas, Nepal, 

 Sikkim, Bhotan 3,000-5,500 feet elevation ; 

 Khasya. 



FIG. 14. Microlepia platyphylla 

 }. Sm. 



(a) A pinnule ( x i ). 



(b) A sorus (magnified). 



