68 NEPIIRODIUIVf, § EUNEPIIRODIUM. 



more or less pubescent oblong-lanceolate abrupt at the base 

 (or sometimes much attenuated there with distant dwarfed 

 pinna)) pinnated pinnatifid at the apex, pinnae numerous ho- 

 rizontal sessile oblong and generally broadest at the base or 

 lanceolate more or less acuminate 3-5 inches long pinnatifid 

 more or less deeply, the segments semiovate obtuse or oblong 

 a little falcate, lowest pair of veinlets uniting and sending 

 out a veinlet which is prolonged to the sinus of the seg- 

 ments, the rest free simple rarely forked, sori in two rows 

 situated near middle of the free veinlets or at the junction of 

 the two basal ones, involucres cordato-reniform more or less 

 villous. — Schott, Gen. Fil. cum. Ic. Desv. Mem. Soc. Linn. vi. 

 p. 258. Br. Broclr. Nov. Holl. p. 149. Aspidium, Sw. Syn. Fil. 

 p. 49. Willd. Sp. Pi. V. p. 246. Metten. Aspid. 103. Po- 

 lypodium, Jacq. Ic. PL Rar. t. 640. Polystichum, Gaud. 

 Aspid. nymphale, Forst. Prodr.p. 81, and Schk. Fil. p. 36. t. 

 34 {Metten.). Aspid. appendiculatum, Wall. Cat. [in part). 

 Aspid. canescens. Wall. Cat. n. 354 (m part). Aspid. para- 

 siticum, Sieb. and Siv. Syn. p. 49 {Metten.). Bl. En. Fil. p. 

 159. Polypod., Linn. {Metten.) Mettenivs adds to these 

 Polypod. latebrosum. Wall., Nephrod. Helsinbergii, Pr., 

 Polyp, diversifrons, Kl. and Kze., and Aspid. patens, Lk. 



Hab. In tropical and subtropical countries ; the most cosmopolitan, perhaps, of 

 all Ferns. 



1. Africa and adjacent islands : Algeria, Bone; Madeira and all the West- 

 African tropical and extratropical islands, abundant ; Sierra Leone, Niger, Forbes, 

 Vogel, Bnmner, Barter, Mann ; South Africa, Cape Town to Macalisberg in the 

 interior, Natal, East Coast, Zambesi, Dr. Kirk ; Abyssinia, Schimper ; Bourbon, 

 "Aspid. pulchrum, Bory," Carmichael ; Mauritius, 5ieier, n. 49; Asp. Helsin- 

 bergii, Bojer, etc. 



2. Ceylon, Thwaitea, Gardner, Genl. Walker. 



3. Indiax Continent, most abundant from the West to the extreme East, and 

 from the South to the Himalayas, Wallich, including his A. canescens. Cat. n. 354, A. 

 canura, n. 387, a large var. with small tubercles bearing subulate paleaceous scales ; 

 Nepal, Hooker fil. et Thom.son,n. 240 a. Polypod. niollusculum. Wall. Cat. n. 332, a 

 common form, with deeper and narrower segments. Polypod. appendiculatum, 

 Wall. Cat. n. 349, almost identical with the latter. Polypod. nemorale. Wall. Cat. 

 n. 1317. Aspid. parasiticum. Wall. Cat. n. 2239 ; many of the larger states from 

 the Indian continent are sometimes quite glabrous. 



4. Malay Islands and Peninsula, probably universal: Rangoon, Aspid. 

 solutum, Wall. Cat. n. 350 ; Moulniein, Parish, terminal pinna very long ; Lu- 

 zon, 71. 83, and n. 279, and 51, and 102. (N. diversilobum, Pr. Epim. Bot.p. 47, 

 Metten. Aspid. p. 100. N. mucronatum, /. Sm., in part. N. Smithianum, Pr. 

 Epimel. Bot., small, with the basal lobe of tlie pinnae on each side forming an 

 auricle : auotlier Nephrodium of J. Sin. under one of these numbers is A. angustifo- 

 lium of Pr. Epimel. p. 58, probably a distinct species ; tlie X. Smithianum I possess 

 also from Amboyna.) Aspid. tectum, Wall. Cat. n. 39 I. Singapore, Java, B^uwe, 

 his Aspid. sul)pul)escens. En. Fil. Jav.p. 149, anff Asp. heterocarpum, Bl.En.Fil. 

 Jav. p. 155, Be Vriese and Teijsmann, n. 265, 284, and A. parasiticu)u, Bl. En. 



