TBE FERNS OF NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 473 



" Stipes tri—vel quadripoUicaris paleaceus. Rachis universalis atque parfcia 

 Sis paleacea sed pales tenuiores. Frmdes sesqui-vel bipedales bipinDafcfe. 

 FinncB tripollicares et longiores. Pmiulos oblongo-subfalcatEe acutai basi 

 GuneatfB sursum acute auriculat^, sen-at^, serratims mucronatis. Finna in- 

 fima superior reliquis longior pinnatifido-serrata. Sori subrotundi. Affine 

 A. aculeafco sed prseter formam pinnularum pracipue pinmla infima pinnati- 

 fida et habitu laxiore diversum. W." 



Kashs(ie : Chittapani Vy. 8000', Trotter ; Dardpura 5-7000', and Aud'rbug 7000', 

 MacLeod ; Pir Panjab aud Gulmarg 7000', Gammie 1891. 



Punjab : Hazara Z)is^.— Black Mt., Kalim Gali 8000', Duthie 1888 ; near Kala- 

 pani 6-7000', Trotter 1890.— <7/tam&a— McDonell, comm. 1885 ; above Chamba town 

 7000', Blanf. 1886 ; Eullu 6-8000', Coventry 1894 ; Simla Heg.-Simla, eastward to 

 Hatu Mt. 48-8300', Hope, Blanf.', Bliss ; Bashahr Forest 8000', Lace. 



N.-W. P. : B. D. Ditt.— J annsai 43-8000', Brandis, Duthie, C. G. Rogers, Gamble j 

 Mussooree 6500' and downwards, very common ; in the Dun (Valley)— Nalota Khdla 

 3500' or more, Hope 1880 and 1891, some very large ; T. Garh.— Nila Vy. 11—12,000' f 

 Duthie 1883 ; Sahlra Forest 7000', Deota 5000' and Bamsu 6000', Gamble 1893-95 } 

 Kumauii— near Karim 6200', and Naini Tal, S. and W. 1848, and Hope 1861 ; Edlam 

 Valley 11-12,000', Duthie ; Lohughat 5000', Trotter ; Eamganga Vy. and elsewhere 

 5000', MacLeod. 



DiSTRiB.— iV. 4- Centr. Atner. Eur. : common. Asia : near the Black Sea ; N, 

 Ind.— Sikkim ; Assam — Khasia. 



After having renewed acquaintance with the living European plant, and 

 having gone through the specimens of it and from all habitats, in the Kew 

 Herbarium, including the British collection of the late Mr. Thomas Moore 

 which shows what a wonderfully variable species it is (without taking into 

 account mere sports and abnormal developments), I find I cannot definitely 

 separate from A. angulare any of the Himalayan material which has been placed 

 under that species. But I will indicate where differences occur. In my own 

 collection I have, from North- Western India, 32 sheets, on which are 36 speci- 

 mens, some of which consist of 2, 3, and even more fronds, besides unmounted 

 duplicates. 



1. As to scales. Some of the Himalayan specimens have no broad ovat« 

 scales on the stipes — such as the European specimens all have : many instead are 

 dothed near the base with long linear-acuminate scales, which pass into mere haii's 

 higher up, and along the rhachis. These scales and hairs are generally dark- 

 brown or nearly black, but occasionally they are of lighter, dull-brown 

 colour. I have, however, seen hairs on a few British specimens. Some speci- 

 mens have large, broad, ovate-acuminate, hair-pointed scales, mixed with narrow 

 linear-acuminate scales, which become almost hairs on the rhacbis : the broader 

 scales are bi-coloured, but the very dark-brown colour of the centre seems to 

 Iselong to the upper surface, and the under surface and narrow margins are 



