290 SEIFRIZ: PLANTS ON MT. GEDEH, JAVA 
Another interesting fern is the stout Polypodium Feei, with its 
mass of prominent sori completely covering the back of a fertile 
frond. It grows in great profusion among the rocks near the 
base of waterfalls. A variety of this same fern—a most adapt- 
able and widely distributed species—is again found on the dry 
lava floor of the crater of Mt. Gedeh. 
Tree-ferns are infrequently met with along the trail in the 
lower subzones. They seek the more open forest formations 
at higher altitudes or the sunny yet moist ravines. 
The epiphytic ferns with the tree-ferns distinguish a tropical 
fern flora from a temperate one. The characteristic epiphytic 
fern of the first subzone on Mt. Gedeh is the magnificent bird’s 
nest fern, Asplenium nidus (PLATE 15, FIG. 2). This huge fern, 
with a spread of sometimes as much as 15 feet, may be seen 
perched like a large bird with out-spread wings, upon a small 
limb far out in space, or it may be found near the ground com- 
pletely encircling a tree trunk, then resembling a fancy flower 
basket. Occasionally one is seen apparently floating free in 
the air, and only on close examination is the bent slender twig 
supporting it discovered (PLATE 16, FIG. 1). 
The nest shape of Asplenium nidus forms an ideal catch-all 
for falling leaves and detritus, a natural basket always full of 
rich organic matter. This fine substratum in turn supports 
yet other epiphytic ferns. Some of these are of very good size, 
such as Stenolepsis tristis and Nephrolepsis acuminata, with 
fronds often 6-8 feet in length (PLATE 16, FIG. 1). This 
latter fern is one of the most graceful in the forest. 
While Asplenium nidus is the characteristic fern and epiphyte 
of the first subzone, other epiphytic ferns are numerous. Chief 
among these is Polypodium Heracleum, a rival in size though not in 
abundance of Asplenium nidus. The large, deeply cleft fronds 
of the Polypodium, measuring as much as 7 feet in length and 18 
inches in width, surround a tree very much as does the bird’s 
nest fern. This remarkable genus is the only one which has 
representative species in all the subzones, from Tjibodas to the 
crater of Gedeh. 
The long grass-like fern Vittaria elongata drapes the trees 
and lianes in an attractive manner (Fic. 3). Several poly- 
podiums, e.g., P. obliquatum, are common as epiphytes. And 
one should not neglect the less conspicuous but beautiful and 
