Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 141 



Birma and Mishmee. 



The spathulate fronds with the winged stipe give this fern a very 

 different appearance to any form of Nidus. 



3. Thamnopteris Simonsiana. {Hook.) Fronds 12-18 inches 

 long, i-i* inch broad, tapering above into an acuminated point, and 

 very gradually below into a short stem, the margin nearly entire ; 

 midrib only rounded and prominent below; texture coiiaceous; 

 veins erect-patent, about \ line apart ; sori copious, reaching from the 

 midrib to within a short distance of the edge. Hock. Syn. Fil. 191. 

 Bedd. F. B. I. t. 247. 



Khasya and Jaintea hills up to 4,000 feet ; Chittagong; Madras 

 Presidency, on the hills west of Vizagapatam, 3,000 feet. 



Mr. Clarke is in error in say big that it is found in Malabar ; lie 

 unites it with A r idus, but it would hardly be safe to do so unless it be 

 proved to vary in cultivation. 



GENUS XL.— ASPLENIUM. (Linn.) 

 (A, privative; spl:n, spleen ; in allusion to its medical properties.) 

 Sori dorsal or sub-marginal, linear or oblong ; indusium similar 

 in shape, straight, single, plane or tumid, bursting along the outer 

 edge ; veins free. 



* Fronds quite entire. 



1. Asplenium ensiforme. (IVallich.) Siipes tufted 1-3 inches 

 long, firm, erect, scaly below ; fronds 8-20 inches long, |— £ inch 

 broad, much acuminated ; margin entire or nearly so, the lower 

 part of frond very gradually narrowed; texture coriaceous; veins 

 immersed, inconspicuous, erect- patent, usually once forked ; sori 

 broad, reaching nearly to the midrib and margin. Wall. Cat. 200. 

 Hook. Syn. Fil. p. 191. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 125. A. stenpphyllum, Bedd. 

 F. B. I. t. 147. 



Himalayas ; Gurwhal to Bhotan, 4,000-9,000 feet elevation ; 

 Ceylon; Birma; Western forests of Madras Presidency. The South 

 Indian, Ceylon, and Birma plant has fronds generally about 8 

 inches long and nearly 1 inch wide. Some Himalayan examples 

 have very long and very narrow fronds, but they cannot he separated 



