Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 287 



2. Oleandra mus^efolia. (Kunze.) Shoots firm, wide-creep- 

 ing, clothed with long golden scales which are not deciduous; fronds 

 generally single, scattered, or more rarely in tufts, 12-20 inches long, 

 by about i| inch broad, narrow oblong acuminate on stipes which 

 are 1-2 inches long and jointed close to the base ; texture thin, a 

 little hairy on both sides and the midrib scaly below ; sori in two 

 irregular rows near the midrib. Mett. Fil. Ind. p. 240. Hook. Syii. 

 Fil. 302. Oleandra neriiformis, Bedd. F. S. I. 91. 



South India on the Western mountains, particularly abundant 

 jg|B in Coorg, rare elsewhere ; Cey- 



^v Ion, central provinces. Mr. 

 Clarke considers this species 

 not distinct from the last ; 

 they appear to me as distinct 

 as the others ; all four, how- 

 ever, are so closely allied that 

 they might be all considered 

 varieties of one species. 



3. Oleandra Wallichii. 

 (Fresl.) Caudex creeping, root- 

 ing, thicker than a goose-quill, 

 densely clothed with subulate 

 crisped ferruginous, spreading 

 and often reflexed scales 

 thickly tufted at the extremity 

 of the branches; stipes dis- 

 ITallichii. [Presl.) tant I-3 inches long and some- 



times paleaceous, jointed close to the base, so that the very short 

 lower articulation is concealed among the scales ; fronds 6-14 inches 

 long, membranaceous soft, more or less hairy, subellipticil-oblong, 

 the sides parallel, the base often obtuse and rounded, the apex 

 suddenly and sharply acuminate; sori compact, almost imbricated 

 in a continuous line close to and parallel with the costa on each 

 side; involucres reniform, ciliated, opening towards the margin. 



