20 ASPIDIUM, § POLYSTICHUM. 



Mauritius, Sieber, Syn. Fil. n. 34, Bojer and others ; fronds broad, pinnie large 

 rhombeo-ovate : this is Asjnd. strauiiiieum, K/f. in Spreng. Syst. Veg. iv. p. 105, 

 Metten. Aspid. p. 50. Au Polystich. Sieberianum, Pr. ? which I hardly venture to 

 consider distinct from aculcatum. In general the chaffy scales are all pale brown 

 as in the European act'lmlum, but, what is very remarkable, some of my speci- 

 mens (with no other ilit!ereiice) have an admixture of the large black rigid 

 curved scales, with pale margins, on the stipes, characteristic of some of the Ant- 

 arctic states of the so-called A-tpidinm vestitnm (Polyp., ForsL) of the more ex- 

 treme southern portion of the southern hemis|)bere. Some of our fronds, on the 

 other hand, from Mauritius exactly correspond with the tyi)ical Anpid. aculeatum. 



4. India ])roper: the Indian continent, excluding the Malay Peninsula and 

 Islands. In this vast territory this species, in my extended views of it, abounds, 

 and, as may be expected, it assumes various forms, according to the amount of 

 heat and moisture and elevation upon the mountains, so that many supposed species 

 have been formed of it. I find some of the chief differences depend on the palea- 

 ceous clothing ; this however is deceptive, for it is more or less deciduous, 

 sometimes entirely so. Among the most remarkable is the Aspidiura rufo-barha- 

 tum. Wall. Cat. pp. 369 and 370. Polystichum, Pr. Aspid. squarrosum, Don, 

 Prodr. Nep. p. 1. Metten. Aspid. p. 46. Also Aspid. setosum, Jf'all. Cat. n. 371. 

 Polyst. Wallichianum, P/'. Aspid. lentum ? and discretum, Z)o«. The large and 

 the copious fine villiform palese are often of a rich ferruginous colour ; and the 

 young undeveloped fronds, when about a foot high, are most densely clothed with 

 long silky hairs of a truly golden hue, but which disappear in age. In India 

 Aspid. aeuleatum hsLS a \ery extended raLiige in mountain regions of the north, 

 from Nepal (Aspid. discretum, Don), Kumaon, and Sylhet, all along the Hima- 

 layan range, from the extreme west to Bhotan in the east, varying extremely in 

 size ; some merging into the large forms of the Cape of Good Hope and Mauritius, 

 others quite according with true acideatum, or the angidare form, while some of 

 our specimens tally with the strongest marked Inbotiim, Wallich, Griffith, Hooker 

 fil. and Thomson (Sikkim, etc.), Edgwortti, Strachey and IVinterbottom (elev. 

 8-10,000 feet), Jncquemont, Colonel Bates. Nilghiri hills, Dr. Wight, Cat. 

 n. 110, Schynld, (A.spid. brachypterum, Kze. in Linnaa, xxiv. p. 288, and in 

 Hohenacker, PL Ind. Or. n. 906, and Aspid. subinerme, Kze. in Linncea, xxiv, 



p. 200), G. Thomson, M'lvor. Khasya and Assam, Mrs. Mack {angidare), 

 Simons, Hooker fil. and Thomson (some specimens with very large black scales 

 edged with rufous). 



5. Ceylon. Specimens generally large, paleaceous tawny scales often mixed 

 with black ones ; others quite the European aculeatum, Mrs. General Walker, 

 Gardner, Thwaites, C.P. n. 1376, 3503. Some specimens cannot be distinguished 

 from the Javanese Aspid. acutifoUum and Aspid. Moluccense, Blume. 



6. Malay Peninsula and Islands. In this region Aspid. aculeatum ap- 

 pears under two or three forms, 1. Size and general character of typical aculea- 

 tum; Java, Blume, A. sublobatum, Bl. En. Fil. Jan. p. 166, a. Aspid. Moluc- 

 cense, Bl. En. Fil. Java, p. 168. Moluccas. Bl. in Herb. Nostr. Java, De Vriese 

 and Teijsmann, n. 586, 598, 597, 294. Lobb, 262 (some specimens, var. angulare). 

 Ceram, De Vriese and Teijsmann, n. 586 — Larger and with submarginal sori. 

 Java, Blume, X%\nA. vestitum, Bl. En. Fil. Jav. p. 165, and in Herb. Nostr. Var. 

 biaristatum 1; coriaceous acuminate, the long suddenly acuminated apex pinnate, 

 habit of var. lobatmn,\s\W\ the apex of the pinnule and auricle chiefly aristate, sori 

 marginal. Aspid. biaristatum, Bl. En. Fil. Jav. p. 164, perhaps distinct. Java, 

 Blume, in Herb. Nostr.; Sincapore, Sir Wm. Norris ; Moulmein, Thos. Lobb, 

 Parish, n. 12. Tripinnate. k'&^\d. m\xcvon\k)\\mx\, Bl. En. Fit. Jav. p. \&A. Java, 

 Blume, in Herb. Nostr. Polystichum discretum, /. Sm. {not Don). Polystichum 

 acutifolium, Pr. Epimel. Bot. S. Comarines, Cuming, n, 181 and 182. 



7. China and Japan, Honin Islands {from Imp. Acad. Petersb.). Common 

 Indian form. Island of Tsus-Sima, off the coast of Korea, Wilford; typical acu- 



