44« Fe'rjsts of British India and Ceylon. 



inches long, more or less scaly, as is the rachis and petioles, fronds 

 6-12 inches long, pinnated glabrous, pinnae submembranaceous, re- 

 mote,/ subopposite, petiolate, 2-4 inches long, ■§ an inch wide, 

 narrow lanceolate acuminated at both ends, rachis more or less winged, 

 specially towards the apex of the frond ; fertile fronds generally 

 longer stipitate, pinnae much contracted, wholly or sometimes only 

 partially fertile, costules indistinct, connected by generally 2 pairs of 

 opposite veinlets, which meet at an acute angle, from which proceed 

 a veinlet, which is either free or joined to the veins above, marginal 

 veins free, terminating in a dot within the margin. Hook. Sp. Fil. 

 v. 265. Syn. Fil. 420. Bedd, F. B. I. t. 269 (under Psecilopteris.) 



South India, Coorg, at the foot of the Bhagamandal ghat at no 

 elevation, Concan (LaAv). I have only found this species in the 

 S'ngle locality mentioned, but it is probably more common in the 

 Bombay Presidency ; it is of much thinner texture than contami- 

 nans, the pinnae differently shaped, and the venation more that of 

 subcrenata. 



(Also in the Philippines.) 



GENUS LXXXVL— ACROSTICHUM. (Z.) 



(Akros, highest; slic/ios, order— fructification at the top of the frond.) 



Veins uniform, copiously anastomosing, forming numerous sub- 

 quadrangular areoles without free included veinlets, no main veins 

 present ; fronds pinnate, the upper pinnae smaller and wholly so- 

 riferous on the lower surface ; stipes adherent to the caudex. 



1 . Acrostichum aureum. (Z ) Caudex erect ; stipe 1-2 

 feet long, tufted, strong, erect, glossy ; fronds 2-6 feet long, 1-2 feet 

 broad, pinnate, the upper pinnae fertile and slightly smaller than the 

 barren ones which are usually stalked, ligulate-oblong, |— 3 inches 

 broad, the apex acute or blunt, sometimes refuse with a mucro, 

 the edge quite entire, the base subcuneate, texture coriaceous, 

 rachis and surfaces glabrous ; areoles very small and copious without 

 free veinlets. Linn. Sp. PI. 1525. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 204. 



