Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 



347 



Pleopeltis nuda, Hook. Exot. Fl. t. 63. P. Wightianum, Bedd. 

 F. S. I. 1S0. (P. ]oriforme, Wall. Cat. 271, type-sheet, belongs 

 here, I believe, and not to simplex, it has larger fronds, but they are 

 narrow and coriaceous and the veins hidden.) 



Himalayas, 1,000-10,000 feet elevation, very common, 

 Khasya : throughout South India ; Ceylon; Malay Peninsula. 



(Also in the Malay Islands, China, Japan, Central and South 

 Africa and its Islands.) 



Var. steniste. {Clarke.) With the fronds only 1-1^ lines 

 broad and the sori projecting beyond 

 the margin, but always superficial, . ----- 

 is only a form of linearis, and it I Z 

 quite graduates into the type, his ' ^ j 

 var. " polymorpha " is an abnormal L 

 form of linearis with the fronds pin- 

 natifid (such as occurs in many 

 other ferns.) 



'194 



4. Pleopeltis simplex. (Sw.) 

 Very like linearis, only the fronds are 

 of thinner texture and much larger, 

 up to 2 feet long by 1-2 inches 

 broad, the veins more distinct, 

 the sori always more or less deeply 

 sunk and forming pustules on the 

 upper side of the fronds, sometimes ^eopeltzs linearis. {Thunb.) 

 quite sunk in a cyst with visible margins, but never nearly so promi- 

 nent as in stenophylla, which also differs in its smaller size, much 

 more rigid texture and fewer veins. Sw. Syn. Fil. 27. Polyp. 

 excavatum (Bory.), Willi. Sp. PL v. 158. P. Grevilleanum, Wall. 

 Cat. 5169. P. sesquipedale, Wall. Cat. 275. P. lineare, var. /;> 

 simplex, Hook, Syn. Fil. 354. 



Himalayas, confounded by Hooker (in his Sp. Fil.) and by 

 Clarke with linearis, but kept distinct by all other botanists, and 



