Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 



47 i 



inches long, the sterile portion with a stalk, 1-6 inches long, i.e. pro- 

 longed beyond the fertile spike, 6-12 inches each way; deltoid, tripin- 

 natifid or tripinnate ; the lower pinnae much the largest ; segments 

 lanceolate-oblong, f— § inch broad, finely toothed ; fertile segments 

 about equalling the sterile segment when mature; panicle 2-4 

 inches long tripinnate, not very close. Wall. Hook, and Grev. Ic. 

 Fil. t. 161. B. subcarnosum, Wall. Cat. 49. Bedd. F. S.I. t. 69. 



Throughout the Indian region, up to 8,000 feet elevation. 



(Also in Java and Polynesia.) 



3. BOTRYCHIUM VIRGINI- 



ANUM. (I. under Osmunda.) 

 Stipes 3-18 inches long, sterile 

 portion not prolonged beyond 

 the fertile spike 4-12 inches 

 each way ; deltoid, quadripin- 

 natifid, lower pinnae much the 

 largest, pinnules ovate-oblong, 

 close cut down to a broadly 

 winged rachis into finely cut 

 linear-oblong segments, both 

 sides naked or slightly hairy ; 

 fertile branch of the rachis 

 springing from the base of the 

 sterile portion (i.e. sterile por- 

 tion, sessile), or from the 

 middle of it. Linn. Sp. PL 

 15 19. Sw. Syn. Fil. 171. 



N°235. 



BOTRYCHIUM VIRGINIANUM. (Szo.) 



VAR. LANUGINOSUM. 



Var. ft lanuginosum. (Sp. Wall. Cat. 48.) Fertile branch 

 arising from the middle of the sterile portion. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 67. 

 Moore, Ind. Fil. 213. Hook. Card. Ferns, t. 29. In the typical 

 American plant, the fertile branch arises from the base of the sterile 

 portion, and the latter is quite glabrous ; in the Indian plant the 

 fertile branch always springs from well above the base, and the sterile 



