32 Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 



oblong tripinnatifid ; main rachis with a narrow wing ; lower pinnas 

 triangular-rhomboidal, divided down to a narrow centre into several 

 pinnules on each side, the lowest of which are cuneate or rhomboidal, 

 deeply pinnatifid, ultimate segments linear, i-ii line long, less than 

 i a line broad; sori 2-12 to a pinna, terminal or axillary on the 

 segments on both sides ; involucre small, divided down nearly to the 

 base ; valves ovate or rounded entire or slightly denticulate. Swartz, 

 Syn. Fil. t. 149. Hook. Syn. Fil. p. 60. H. microglossum, V.D.B. 

 Hook. Syn. Fil. fi. 59. H. polyanthos ft. minor. Bedd. F. B. I. 

 t. 306. H. Blumeanum, Sfireng. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 266. 



Himalayas and Khasya mountains, 1,000-12,000 feet elevation. 

 Western Ghats of the Madras Presidency; Ceylon; Birma. 



(Also widely distributed in all tropical and subtropical regions 

 throughout the world.) 



The typical form is only from Northern India, and is a very 

 large fern. 



Var. ft microglossum is from the western ghats of South 

 India. Bedd. F B. I. t. 306. A small form with the stipe more or 

 less winged ; but Mr. Clarke sends me a fern under this name from 

 Bhotan, which is intermediate between this and the type with some of 

 the fronds running very close to Blumeanum. 



Var. y Blumeanum. Fronds very narrow and elongate, and 

 pinnae sometimes simply pinnatifid only. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 266. 



Ceylon ; Tinnevelly and Travancore mountains. This has 

 generally been considered a quite distinct species by botanists in 

 Ceylon and South India, but Mr. Clarke says it runs into the type in 

 Northern India, and cannot be separated. With only Ceylon and 

 South Indian specimens in view, it is difficult to consider them all 

 forms of one species, but after seeing the Himalayan forms, I quite 

 agree with Mr. Clarke that they cannot be separated as species. 



5. Hymenophyllum javanicum. (Sfireng.) Glabrous or nearly 

 so; stipe 2-4 inches long, erect, margined above with a broad, 

 crisped wing ; fronds 4-8 inches long, 3-4 inches broad, triangular, 



