Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 107 



erect, naked ; fronds 12-18 inches long, ovate-lanceolate, pinnate; 

 pinnae acute, sometimes many, sometimes 7, 5, 3, or 1, all simple, 

 or the lowest pair 2 -fid, often 1 inch broad or rather more; margins 

 where barren, entire, undulate, crisped or crenulate ; rachis naked ; 

 texture coriaceous, surfaces bright green often glossy; veins fine 

 close, simple or forked at right angles from the midrib ; indusium 

 membranous. Presl. Rel. Hcenk. 55. Hook. Syn. Fil. p. 154. Clarke, 

 F.N.I.p. 462. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 38.- 



Plains and hills of Bengal up to 3,000 feet elevation, Western 

 forests of Madras Presidency ; Birma. 



(Also in Malay Islands, and Guinea Coast.) 



Var. /3 stenophylla. Pinna; 3-4 or sometimes 2-1 subdigitate, 

 fertile pinnae very long and narrow. Hook, and Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 130. 

 Gurwhal and Nepal, 3,000-4,000 feet. 



4. Pteris Hookeriana. (Agardk.) Stipes 6-12 inches long, 

 naked, erect, pale ; fronds coriaceous, opaque, pinnate or bipinnate, 

 9-12 inches long, 6-9 inches broad, with 2-6 pairs of sessile or 

 stalked alternate or opposite entire pinna;, the largest of which is 

 about 6 inches long, f-ii inch broad, the 2-4 lower pairs more 

 or less pinnatifid ; rachis and both surfaces naked ; veins about 

 1 line apart at the base, simple or once-forked, conspicuous above, 

 but scarcely visible beneath ; sori slightly intermarginal ; indusium 

 narrow. Hook. Syn. Fil. p. 155. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 40. 



Ceylon, Adam's Peak, about 2,000 feet elevation, and the Southern 

 provinces at low elevations. 



5. Pteris dactylina. • {Hook.) Stipes 6-9 inches long, 

 slender, wiry, naked ; fronds digitate, coriaceous, consisting of 3-7 

 (usually 5) linear glabrous pinna;, 2-6 inches long by i-q-2 lines 

 broad, the barren margins serrate ; veins wide apart, thick and 

 conspicuous, simple or forked; indusium broad. Hook. Syn. Fil. 

 p. 155. Bedd. F. B. I. t. 23. 



Khasya, 4,200 feet elevation ; Sikkim. 



(>. Pteris ENSIF<>rmis. (Burm.) Stipes up to 10 inches long, 



