Ferns of British India and Ceylon. ii 



tripinnate ; primary pinnae short, petiolate very remote, 10-14 inches 

 long, 2-3 inches wide, oblong acuminate, deeply pinnatifid, pinnate 

 near the base; segments i-ii inch long, oblong acute subfalcate 

 entire or serrate, all horizontal, the extremity suddenly pinnated with 

 oblong undivided sessile pinnules serrated at the margin; veins once 

 forked (rarely twice-forked) ; sori in the axil of the fork, or in 

 the lower veins, considerably above it ; involucre a hemispherical 

 cup completely surrounding the base of the sorus. Bedd. F B. 1. 

 t. 236, under Alsophila. Hook. Syn. Fil. p. 41. 



Penang. My specimens distinctly show the indusium. 



GENUS IV.— ALSOPHILA. {Brown.) 

 (Alsos, grove; phileo, to love.) 

 Sori globose, dorsal, on a vein or at the forking of a vein ; recep- 

 tacle generally elevated, often villous ; involucre none, but the bullate 

 scales along the costa of the segments may often be mistaken for 

 such. Arborescent ferns ; fronds decompoundly pinnate ; veins never 

 anastomosing, simple forked or pinnate. 



1. Alsophila latebrosa. (Hook) A lofty tree fern ; stipes 

 aculeate at the base, muricated upwards, dark mahogany-brown; 

 primary pinnae oblong acuminate, 12-24 inches long, 6-8 inches 

 wide ; pinnules lanceolate-acuminate, 3-4 inches long, cut down 

 nearly to the rachis into linear-oblong, blunt slightly-toothed 

 segments on each side ; rachis of pinnules beneath glabrous or 

 pubescent ; veins generally minutely hairy (under the lens) ; veinlets 

 forked ; numerous bullate scales along the costa of the segments 

 beneath and also along the rachis of the pinnules ; sori occupying the 

 lower two-thirds of the segment. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 58. Hook. Syn. 

 Fil. p. 43- 



Nilgiris and all the western mountains in the Madras Presidency 

 and the Shevaroys, up to 7,000 feet ; but often found as low as 

 3,000 ; Sikkim, Bhotan and Khasya, 3,500-5,000 feet ; also through- 

 out the Malay Peninsula and Penang. I cannot distinguish the 

 two varieties given by Mr. Clarke. The South Indian specimens 



