THE FERNS OF NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 265 



gives DiiA. Jerdoni, Bedd., and D. Griffithii, Baker, as synonyms, and Clarke 

 these, and also A. ^)ecta¥ile, Wall, Cat. 237^— a fern which is not mentioned 

 in either the Sijnopsis or Beddoms. 



This seems to be one of the instances in which descriptions of old species are 

 Itered or re-written, in new l}ooks, so as to include subsequently discovered 

 and sometimes very different plants, or to fit the theories of the later authoi*s— 

 a very reprehensible practice, in my opinion. 



Subgenus— Anisogonium, Presl. 

 39. A. esculentum, Presl. ; Syn. Fil. 244 ; C. E. 503 ; Animjonkm 



esmlentum^ Presl. ; Bedd. H. B. 192. 

 Punjab : Cliamha — McDonell ; i?iZZM— Trotter, twice collected, the 1-pinnate 



form. 



N.-W. P. : D. B. Dist.—The Dehra Valley 1000'— 2500' : very common near water ; 

 T. Garh.—G&nges Valley, Duthie ; Kumavti—5-700(i\ S. & W., Duthie, MacLeod. 



DISTRIB. — Asia : N. Ind. CHim.)— Nepal, WalUch ; Sikkim 3500', GamMe ; plains 

 of Assam and Bengal, and Parasnath Mt. 2500', very common in Bengal. Centr. 

 Prov. Ind. — Pacbmarhi. S. Ind. — " Common in the plains on the western side, up to 

 ?>()W (^Baddome'). Ceylon. Malay Penins, and Isles. Java. Moluccas. Celebes. New 

 Guinea. Tonkin. Hainan. Formosa. Hongkong. Philippines. Admiralty Isles. Samoa. 

 Viti. 



Pi'onds either shnply pinnate, and then more or less lobed and toothed, or 

 completely bipinnate with the pinnules again similarly lobed and toothed, but 

 with a sunply pinnate apex with up to 10 — 12 pairs of pinnte ; or — with only 

 one or two pairs below phmate or partly so. The simply pinnate fronds 

 are probably from young root stocks, and have pinnae varying from 2J to 

 5 ins. in length and from -i to 1^ ins. in breadth ; but I think both forms 

 of frond are to be found on the same root-stock. In large bipinnate frond 

 the lowest pinnse are very distant, and sometimes simple and short. The 

 root-stock is, as the books say, subarborescent ; the roots are black and wiiy, 

 and go deep into the ground. The plant loves ditches and swamps, and 

 silty soil by the edges of streams. It is very common in the Dehra Dun 

 where I have seen it in large bushes on the banks of rivers, and also in 

 swamps among gigantic grasses — in separate plants, growing 9 to 12 feet high, 

 with caudices 6 — 12 inches high. 



The occurrence of this fern in North- West India was first recorded by me 

 in the Catalogue of Ferns in the Saharanpur Herbarium. 

 Subgenus Hemidictyum, Presl, 

 40. A. Ceteracll, L. ; Syn. Fii. 245 ; CI. Rev. 504. Hemidictyum 



Geterach, L. ; Bedd. H. B. 44. 

 Afghan. — Griffith: Kurram Vy. — rocks overhanging Karriah River; rare,Aitch., 

 1897. 

 Teans-Ind., p. States : Baraul and Sivdt—~3 stations 4-7000', General Gataere. 



