CHEILANTHKS. 113 



brous pinnato-pinnatifid below sub-bipinnate, pinnae approx- 

 imate nearly op])ositc broad-lanceolate dimidiate (the inferior 

 half" being broadest) deeply pinnatifid nearly to the rachis 

 lowest ])air again subpinnate and the secondary pinnie pin- 

 natifid, lobes all oblong entire or sinuate gradually coming 

 to a sharp point the lower base decurrent the lowest inferior 

 lobes the longest, involucres subintramargiual continuous 

 rarely here and there interrupted broad flat membranaceous 

 brown close-pressed frequently lobed and crenaled and trans- 

 versely wrinkled. Hook. Ic. PL x. ined. Pteris nitidula, Wall. 

 Cat. n. 89. Allosorus nitidnlus, Presl. 



Hab. Karaaoun, Dr. Wallich. Rocks, Simla, Dr. T. Thoimon. Pund- 

 kesler, N. India, Mr. Edgevjorth. — This, like many others we have placed 

 under Cheilanthes, has nearly an equal claim to be considered an Allosorus, 

 as it is considered by Presl, era Pteris, according to Wallich, its. discoverer. 

 It has no small affinity with Ch.pulchella and Ch. cuneata, but is quite distinct 

 from both, and apparently a rare species. We possess Dr. Wallich's origi- 

 nal specimens IVom the alpine districts of Kaniaoun, gathered by his col- 

 lector, Mr. Blinkworlh; others from Mr. Edgeworth, and we find excellent 

 specimens in Dr. Thomson's rich Himalayan Herbarium. No description 

 of it however has yet been published. In the younger fronds the veins are 

 very obscure : in the older ones they are prominent or elevated beneath. 

 Sterile fronds are broader and more membranaceous : hence Presl has pla- 

 ced it in a division of Allosorus " frondibus dissimilibus pinnulis laciniisve 

 angustioribus integris," along with his Allosorus (Cryptogramma, Br) cris- 

 pus. — Dr. Wallich's specific name, we presume, refers raiher to the glossy 

 character of the stipites and rachis than to the fronds, which we find to be 

 somewhat opaque. 



(Pteroideae, — clothed ivith yelloiv powder beneath). 



68. Ch. chn/sophylla ; roots fibrous, stipites tufted 2 — 4 

 or 5 inches long purple-ebeneous hispid with sparse black 

 subulate scales denser below, fronds subcoriaceous del- 

 toid-ovate acuminate 3 — 4 inches long dark olive-green and^ 

 glabrous above golden-yellow and powdery beneath pinnate, 

 pinna3 mostly lanceolate the lowest ]jair deltoid all pinnatifid, 

 lowest inferior segments of the lowest pinna) lanceolate sub- 

 sinuate, the rest oblong or ovate entire or crenulate, involu- 

 cres formed of the reflexed margin of the frond continuous 

 even to the apex of the segments but crenatc, the edge thin 

 membranaceous (not ciliated). Ch. chrysophylla. Hook. Ic. 

 PL X. #. 901, (ined.) 



Hab. Bare rocks, Kala-Panee, Khasya (1850), Drs. Honker and Thom- 

 son. — It is impossible not to see the striking affinity between this species 

 and tlie Ch. farinosa, Kaulf. (p. 77), and figured in the ' Icones Filicum,' t. 

 77, insomuch that, at the first aspect, save in the very different colour of 

 the powdery substance on the underside of the frond (here bright gold) 



