8 ASPIDIUM, § POLYSTICHUM. 



lobe, involucre subovate membranaceous peltate pedicellate, 

 the margin suberose. — Hook. 2nd Cent, of Ferns, t. 25. 



Hab. Sikkim-IIiraalaya, Hooker fil. and Thomson. Kumaon, elevation 9- 

 13,000 feet, Strachey and Winterbottom. Simla, Col. Bates. — This will rank 

 among the smallest of the Polystichums, approaching perhaps nearest to some 

 small forms of Aspid. Prescottianum, Wall., among the bipinnate species. The 

 involucre, if constant in structure, is very remarkable. 



5. A. (Polystichum) Lachenense, Hook.; caudex short ob- 

 lique stout scaly above, stipites very densely tufted numerous 

 and compact stout marcescent 2-4 inches long subflexuose 

 glossy black or dark brown scaly, fronds 4-8 inches long 

 linear-lanceolate coriaceous pinnate, pinnte, the largest less 

 than \ an inch long, patent rather distant sessile deltoideo- 

 ovate subpinnatifido-crenate rather obtuse subpinuloso-serrate 

 or unarmed, sori in two rows on each pinnule, rachis strami- 

 neous setaceo-paleaceous with whitish appressed scales (Tab. 

 CCXIL). 



Hab. Sikldni-ilinialaya, elev. 13-16,000 feet; Lachen and elsewhere, Hooker 

 fil. and Thomson. — This has all the appearance of a very alpine Fern. The fronds, 

 and consequently the stipites are very densely tufted, and though most of the 

 fronds seem nnable to bear the severity of the winter's cold or the long covering 

 of snow, the stipites remain, stout, black, glossy, and withered at the points. It 

 wants the wiry habit of Asplenium Trichomanes, otherwise the general size and 

 form of the pinnules are not much unlike those of a form of that species. 



6. A. (Polystichum) Lonchitis, Sw. ; caudex short stout 

 oblique densely paleaceous as are the short stipites and 

 lower portion of the rachis with ferruginous large scales, 

 fronds 6-18 inches long densely tufted erect rigid lanceolate 

 tapering at both ends pinnated, pinuce numerous approximate 

 from a broad nearly sessile obliquely truncated base ovate or 

 lanceolate falcate acute rather than acuminate spinuloso- 

 serrate, the superior base truncated and auriculate, sori con- 

 fined to the upper portion of the frond in two or more series 

 upon the pinnae. — Siv. Syn. Fil. p. 43. Willd. Sp. PL v. 

 p. 224. Sm. Fil. Brit. p. 1118. Enffl. Fl. iv. p. 284. Schk. 

 Fil. p. 29./. 29. Metten. Aspid. p. 41. Hook, et Am. Brit. 

 Fl. ed. 8. p. 582. Hook. Brit. Ferns, t. 9. Polypodium, 

 lAnn. Sp. PI. p. 1548. Engl. Bot. t. 796. Polystichum, 

 Roth, Fl. Germ. iii. p. ^\. Presl. Moore, Brit. Ferns, Nat. 

 Print, t. 9. 



Hab. Abundant in the temperate and cooler parts of Europe, chiefly on the 

 elevated mountains in the south, and it ajjpears to have an extensive range 

 generally in the northern hemisphere, from Greenland (Disco, Dr. Lyall) in the 

 north to Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, Greece (Mount Olympus, Aucher- 



