84 



Anshi, Yan, Castle Rock ; Konkan, below 

 Mahableshwar, Bassein ; Bombay Island, 

 Mahim, Malabar Hill ; Goa territory, Old 

 Goa, Panjim, Mapuca, Marmagoa and along 

 the M. & S. M. Railway in damp places ; 

 abundant in the neighbourhood of Dood Sagor. 



Madras Presidency ; Bengal, in the plains 

 and up to 5,000 feet ; Ceylon ; Burma. 

 Widely distributed over the whole world. 



This fern is commonly grown in gardens. 

 It has run wild at Mahim, where it is very 

 common on the damp walls of wells, likewise 

 on Malabar Hill, where it grows in hedges 

 near the Hanging Gardens. The capacity 

 of the spores to vegetate abundantly upon 

 all moist surfaces and in the crevices of 

 walls probably explains its frequent occurrence 

 outside the limits of cultivation. 



Var. mariesii (Hort.)- This is a garden variety 

 with shorter fronds and narrower pinnae. It 

 keeps closer to the pot. 



2. Pteris cretica L. 



Rhizome creeping. Stipe erect, naked, 

 straw-coloured. Frond 6-12 inches long, 4-8 

 inches broad, pinnate ; pinnae linear, lance- 

 shaped, up to nearly an inch broad, the upper 



