THE FERNS OF NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 735 



Wallioh thought this fern so distinct from any other that he made a new 

 genus for it~Arthrobotnjs, meaning, I presume, that the sorus or bunch of 

 sporangia was attached to the frond by a joint, — and he gave it the specific 

 name macrocarpa. The involucre completely envelopes the sorus, and the 

 whole bunch on a stalk can be detached, even in old dried specimens, from 

 the segment, the involucre being like a thin shell. Sometimes it separates from 

 the frond and turns upwards, but it is always persistent. The '* Synopsis " 

 gives the generic synonym, and, also, Dryopteris, Schott. And Clarke gives 

 Arthobotrys mmrocarpa^ Wall., Cat. 395, and A. avana. Wall., Cat. 1034, as 

 synonyms. Beddome also mentions those, and says that A. avana is from 

 Ava, with the fertile segments fo contracted as to be quite beadlike. All the 

 descriptions state that the sterile and fertile fronds are different, though 

 Mr. Clarke says that barren fronds partially fruit-bearing are not rare, and 

 Colonel Beddome that the fronds are generally dimorphic. This is a very 

 common fern in the Dehra Dun, and I should say that a paitially- 

 contracted frond is a very rare occurrence. I can see in this fern no 

 resemblance to N. F.-mas, or connection with that or any other Lastrea. The 

 general aspect of the plant, which sometimes grows in a thick bed or large 

 patch, is— a number of broad leafy sterile fronds bending backwards, and one 

 or more fertile fronds standing stiff and erect in the middle, and much higher 

 than the rest, the stipes being <?ery long, round, and stout. The fertile fronds 

 are often found to have been eaten off by cattle or deer, I presume. The 

 plant loves a chy or rich loamy soil, moisture and shade, or raviny or hilly 

 ground, under trees or among bushes. 



N. cochhatum is never truly bipinnate, even in the fertile fronds, the seg- 

 ments being cordate on the superior side and decurrent to a winged rhachis on 

 the inferior, — the wing being traceable throughout. The veins, sometimes vei^ 

 obscure, are pinnate in the lobes ; veinlets few and long. The caudex is 

 decumbent like that of N. marginatum^ Wall. : stipes tufted. A section of the 

 caudex shows black striae in the woody structure, which are wanting in 

 N. marginatum. Beddome says of Lastrea cochJeata — " A very distinct-looking 

 plant at low elevations, but running into elcngata " (i.e., N. marginatum) 

 " at higher elevations {vide forms of my collecting on the Nilgiris and Brumagher- 

 ries in the British Museum)." He also, in a letter, referred me to that suite ; but 

 I found only about two specimens in it which I could not at once sort according 

 to my lights. Mr. Clarke says N. cocMeatum has been confused with mrs. 

 intermedia, Bedd., and ScJiimperiana, Hochst., of F.-mas. and that it resem- 

 bles them in having large involucres. " Its especial character is its strong 

 dimorphism ; it is worthy, perhaps, of generic rank." He further says there 

 are no forms intei-mediatc between N. cochhakm and N. elongatum at Kew, nor 

 has be ever met with such in India. " There are examples of N. cochkaium 

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