Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 149 



rally proliferous at the apex; pinnae distant, alternate, 15-20 pair, 

 stalked, ligulate-lanceolate acuminate, 3-5 inches long, i-i^inch broad, 

 crenate, broadly rounded on the upper, cuneate-truncate on the lower 

 side at the base ; lowest rather reduced ; texture firm ; surfaces naked, 

 dark green ; veins erect-patent, fine distant, forked ; sori regular, 

 parallel, 3-4 lines long, scarcely produced more than half-way to the 

 margin ; indusium firm, broad, Kze. in Li7i. xxiv. p. 259. Hook. Syn. 

 Fil. 4S4. Asp. persicifolium (Hook.), Bedd. F. S. I. t. 127. 



Nilgiris and Pulneys at the higher elevation ; Ceylon at Newera 

 Elya, &c, above 5,000 feet elevation. 



14. Asplenium hirtum. (Kaulf.) Stipes tufted, 2-4 inches 

 long, strong, erect, brownish, deciduously scaly; fronds 12-24 

 inches long ; pinnae very numerous, horizontal, 1-3 inches long, 

 |-| inch broad ; the apex rounded or acute ; the margin broadly 

 not deeply toothed, the base on the upper side conspicuously auricled, 

 on the lower side rather suddenly but obliquely narrowed ; texture 

 coriaceous ; rachis dark-coloured, strong, more or less fibrillose ; 

 veins oblique, inconspicuous ; sori in two regular rows which do not 

 reach the margin. Kaulf. En. Fil. 169. Hook. Syn. Fil. p. 205. 

 Bedd. F B. I. t. 194. 



Sikkim at Lingtam near Darjeeling ; Moulmein. 

 (Also in the Mascareen Islands, Hong Kong, Philippines, and 

 Solomon Islands.) 



15. Asplenium auritum. (Sw.) Stipes tufted, 4-8 inches 

 long, firm, erect, grey, naked; fronds 3-12 inches long; pinnae 

 10-20 distinctly stalked, horizontal, 2-3 inches long, the apex acute 

 or blunt, either deeply pinnatifid or pinnate throughout, or only 

 sharply toothed or variously lobed, especially on the upper side 

 towards the base ; texture very coriaceous ; rachis firm, erect, naked ; 

 veins close, oblique, inconspicuous ; sori in two broad rather oblique 

 rows. Sw. Syn. Fil. 78. Hook. Syn. Fil. 208. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 137. 



South India, rare; Conoor, on rocks 5,600 feet elevation; 

 Anamallays, bed of the Toracadu river, 4,000 feet. 



1 ('Also throughout Tropical America and the West Indies, and 

 in the Mascareen Islands.) 



