464 



Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 



raiely distinct, rising direct from the corm ; veins reticulated ; fronds 

 simple entire, rarely palmate. 



1. Ophioglossum vulgatum (Z.) Rhizome not tuberous, 

 short, or elongated, producing annually 1-2 fronds ; fronds 6-9 

 inches long, the sterile division generally placed about the middle 

 2-4 inch long, f— 2 inches broad, ovate or ovate-oblong, without a 



distinct haft, texture stouter than 

 in the others, the midrib usually 

 indistinct ; fertile spike 1 inch long or 

 rather more, on a peduncle 2-4 inches 

 long, and considerably overtopping 

 the sterile division when fully 

 mature. Lin. Sp. PL 15 18. 



Sikkim, Goke, 4,000 feet eleva- 

 tion, Rungait camp, below Darjeel- 

 ing, 2,000 feet elevation. 



(Widely spread in Europe ■> 

 Africa, and its eastern islands ; 

 America; Japan; Australia; New 

 Zealand, and Sandwich Islands.) 



2. Ophioglossum nudicaule- 

 {L.f.) Rhizome small, slightly tube- 

 rous ; fronds 1 inch or more long, 

 the sterile division placed not far 

 from the base, -§-i inch long, 2-5 

 lines broad, linear to ovate, without 

 a haft, or with only a slight one, the 

 texture thin but with no evident costa and veins not distinct ; fertile 

 spike i inch long, the peduncle often 2 inches long, very slender. Sw. 

 Syn. Ml. t. 4. O. parvi folium, Hook, and Grev. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 71. 

 South India, Anamallay Forests, 2,500 feet elevation, and else- 

 where on the Western mountains ; Malay Peninsula. 



(Also in America from United States southward to Brazil, New 

 Caledonia, and Tropical Africa.) 



N° 238. 

 OPHIOGLOSSUM NUDICAULE 



{L.f.] 



