248 Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 



hairs ; fronds 2-3 feet long ; pinnae close, lanceolate, 4-6 inches long, 

 i-i| inch broad, gradually reduced below; pinnules oblong, blunt, 

 usually distinct, sometimes subpinnatifid, the segments with copious 



aristate teeth, the edge often incurved ; texture herbaceous ; rachises 

 clothed like the stipe; midrib beneath rather scaly; sori in rows 



close to the midrib of the pinnules. Hook. Syn. Fil. 274. Bedd. 



F. B. I. t. 227. L. Falconeri, Hook. Syn. Fil. 277. Bedd. F. B. I. 



t.41. 



Himalayas; Kashmir to Sikkim, 11,000-15,000 feet elevation. 



Nearly allied to Brunoniana if it be really distinct, which I doubt. 



25. Lastrea odontoloma. (Moore.) Stipes 6 inches, soft 

 thick chestnut-coloured, with scattered deciduous lax lanceolate scales ; 

 fronds up to 10 inches long, by 6-8 inches broad, oblong-lanceolate, 

 truncate at the base ; pinnae often widened at the base, 2-pinnate ; 

 secondary pinnae elliptic-oblong, pinnatifid (sometimes deeply) ; seg- 

 ments rounded, sharply serrate ; texture thin becoming hyaline 

 towards the margin ; venation subflabellate ; involucre fimbriate. 

 Clarke, F. N. I. p. 521. L. Filix-mas, var. odontoloma, Hook. Syn. 

 Fil. p. 498. Bedd. F. Sup. t. 373, not F. S. I. t. 114 (which is typical 

 Filix-mas.) 



Himalayas, Chumba to Bhotan, 11,000-16,000 feet elevation. 



I have followed Mr. Clarke in separating this from Filix-mas, 

 but I fear I may be wrong in so doing, as specimens of Mr. Clarke's 

 Filix-mas, var. panda seem to connect this with that protean species ; 

 but if it goes into Filix-mas, Brunoniana and barbigera must also be 

 referred there. I find the greatest difficulty in distinguishing between 

 this species and Brunoniana, the fimbriate involucre and the truncate 

 base to the frond, seem the only reliable characters, the former, how- 

 ever, is of no specific value, and the latter I fear is not constant 

 (unless I still confuse the species), as some specimens which I 

 believe to be Brunoniana, and decided by Mr. Clarke to be such, 

 have the fronds without reduced pinnae at the base. 



26. Lastrea Filix-mas. (Linn, under Folypodium.) Stipes 

 tufted, more or less clothed with scales, fronds up to about 

 4 feet long, and about 1 foot broad pinnate to sub-bipinnate ; 



