204 



Sporangia sessile, arranged in two rows on the 

 face ot the spikes. Fronds consisting of a 

 fertile and sterile segment on the same stipe. 

 Sterile segment leafy, triangular, 2-3 pinnati- 

 fidly decompound. Veins forked, free ; fertile 

 segment consisting of a stalked spike which 

 forms a compound panicle. 



Botrychiwn virginianum Sw. 



Stipes 3-18 inches long ; sterile portion not 

 stalked and not prolonged beyond the fertile 

 segment, up to about a foot each way, triangu- 

 lar, four-pinnatifid. Ultimate pinnules cut 

 down almost to the rachis into linear-oblong 

 segments, tertile branch springing from the base 

 of the sterile portion (type) or from the middle 

 of it. 



Var. lanuginosum. Surfaces hairy. The 

 fertile branch always springs from the middle 

 of the sterile segment which is more or less 

 hairy. 



Distribution : Bombay Presidency Ghats. 



South India, at the higher elevations on the 

 western mountains ; Ceylon ; North India, 

 on the Himalayas, Kumaon to Bhotan, 5,000- 

 8,000 feet ; Khasya, 4,000-6,000 feet. The 

 type in Europe, America and Japan. 



