THE FERNS OF NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 749 



DiSTEiB.— 4sia : N. Ind. (Him.), Bhotdu Griffith ; Assam— Sylhet Station (alt. 

 300'), Sook. pi. and T. T., and C. B. Clarke, Manipur ; Bengal— Chittagong, Ek fil. 

 and T. T., and C B. Clarke. Malacca. Malay Archipelago. N. Borneo. 



Mr. Clarke says in his * Review, ' " Considered a variety of N. exaltatahx 

 Hk. and Baker. Syn. Fil. 301 ; but with the arrival of more material 

 Mr. Baker inclines to admit it as a good species. They both grow together 

 plentifully in Sylhet Station, but are there easily distinguished." 



N. exaltata does not appear to climb at all, whereas iV. voluUlis climbs 

 25—30 feet (Beddome says 50 feet; to the tops of trees. (Perhaps the 

 specific name exaltata is thought sufficient to cover this notable difference of 

 habit : if a fern named exaltata does not climb 30 or 50 feet high, it certainly 

 ought to do so.) My specimen from Naini Tdl, in Kumaun, consists of eight 

 inches of glabrous, wiry, rhizome, with two spm-s, three inches apart, from 

 which spring not only clusters (pairs) of stipes as in Mr. Clarke's fig-ure, but also 

 clusters of very long roots, which have hardly been indicated by Mi-. Clarke's 

 artist. I gathered it by the side of the path (or road) which then (1861) led up 

 Chinar Mountain, through the jungle at the north end of the Naini Tal Glen. 

 The plant was growing on the ground, and 1 gathered only the portion above 

 described. I showed this to Mr. Clarke and Mr. W. S. Atkinson in Calcutta 

 in 1872. and they agreed in naming it N. ramosa, Moore, — in error, as I after- 

 wards saw. The specimen was mounted, with the rest of my collection, when 

 I was at home later in 1892, and the sheet has ever since been in my possession. 

 Genus 25. Oleandea, Cav. 



1. O. Wallicllii, Hook.; Syn. Fil. 302; 0. Ffa/MM, Presl., C. R. 

 542 ; Bedd. H. B. 287. 



Punjab : Simla Be^.— Simla 5-6000', Edgeworth, Bates, Gamble, Blanf., Trotter 

 Bliss. "Not common, but locally abundant : growing on perpendicular rock faces 

 between 5500' and 6000'," Blantord in List. 



N.-W. P. : D. D. -Dui^.— Mussooree, in Herb. JDalzel, 1860 ; "The Park " 63-6500' 

 on trees, Mackinnons 1879, Hope 1887, 1895 ; T. ^rarA.— Jumna Vy., Duthie 1883 • 

 "Garhwal," 5-6000', Dr. J. L. Stewart, B. 6arh.—&ho\Q Bansbagar 4-5000' and 

 6-7000', Duthie 1885; Kumaun— llohaigxri 6500', S. & W. 1818; near Naini Tdl 

 Hope 1861, on wet rocks ; Gori Valley 5-8000', Duthie 1884, 8-9000', Duthie 1886; 

 Dhankuni Pass 8500', Trotter 1891 ; Kala Muni Ridge 9000', MacLeod 1893 ; "grows 

 chiefly on rocks, occasionally on trees." 



DISTRIB.— ^«za : N. Ind. (Him.), Nepal, WaUich, Sikkim and Bhotan; Assam— 

 Khasia, Kohima and N. Manipur 5500'. Burma, Malay Penins. 



The fronds of this fern grow larger than is stated in the books : I have 

 Mussooree specimens over 18 in. 1. The creeping rhizome is generally free 

 only clinging to the trunks of trees and to rocks by its long wiry roots : it 

 winds round and up the trunks, branching in all directions — frequently at right 

 angles. The fronds droop, and form a beautiful clothing to the tree trunks. 



