Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 325 



uniform from a central costa, venules anastomosmg sometimes trans- 

 versely parallel, forming parallelogrammoid areoles, with excurrent 

 free or occasionally connivent or anastomosed veinlets, sometimes 

 uniting in roundish or oblong hexagonal unequal oblique areoles, with 

 variously directed simple or divaricately forked veinlets, the veins of 

 the fertile frond when contracted less developed ; fronds simple or 

 rarely lobed, rigid, coriaceous, opaque, the fertile often contracted. 



1. Niphobolus adnascens. {Sw. under Polypodium.) Rhizome 

 wide-creeping, paleaceous with lanceolate-setaceous scales ; stipes dis- 

 tant, 1-2 inches long, furnished at the base with lanceolate-linear 

 often hairy scales ; fronds dimorphous, carnose-coriaceous, dark 

 green above, but hoary with sparse stellated pubescence beneath, and 

 paler and even white with more copious compact hairs ; sterile fronds, 

 2-4 inches long, spathulate or elliptical-lanceolate, obtuse; fertile ones 

 6-8 inches long, linear or oblong obtuse or acute, both kinds tapering 

 below into the stipe, costa sub-carinate, costules sunk obscure, their 

 areoles including four (sometimes only three or two) veinlets, which are 

 generally free with clavate apices, though they sometimes anastomose ; 

 sori deep sunk in the tomentum and in the substance of the frond on 

 each side of the costa, arranged 5-6 in obliquely transverse series, 

 capsules long stalked, mixed with long stalked stellated scales. 

 Sue. Syn. Fil. pp. 25 and 228. Hooker. Sp. Fil. v. 47. Bedd. F. S. 

 I. t. 184. Wall. Cat. 268. Polyp, verrucosum, Wall. Cat. n. 267. 

 P. vittarioides, Wall. Cat. p. 270. P. pertusum, Wall. Cat. 267. 



Throughout India from the plains up to 4,500 elevation; Ceylon ; 

 Malay Peninsula. 



(Also in China ; Fiji ; Mascareen Islands, Cameroon Mountains.) 



2. Niphobolus l*vis. {J. Sm.) Rhizome slender, wide-creep- 

 ing, clothed with linear setaceous scales ; stipes distant, somewhat 

 hairy \ inch to nearly 2 inches long, furnished with a tuft of scales 

 at their base; fronds coriaceous, linear-lanceolate, much narrowed 

 towards the apex, 2A-6 inches long, \-'\ inch broad, glabrous above, 

 hairy with stellate pubescence beneath ; venation obscure, costules 

 thin, areoles in three series between the costa and margin, with one, 



