310 H. F. Blanford— .4 List of the Ferns of Simla. [No. 4, 



not I'are. I cannot agree with Col. Beddome in regarding this as pass- 

 ing into var. marginata. On the contrary, I should be inclined to regard 



it as specifically distinct from all varieties of N. filix mas. 



66. Nephrodium filix mas, var. marginata, Wall. 



Clarke gives the range of this fern as from 6,000 to 9,000 ft. 

 At Simla, according to my experience, 6,000 ft. is the higher, not the 

 lower limit, and all the bipinnate forms allied to N. filix mas that I 

 have collected at higher elevations are those above referred to under var. 

 normalis. The fern here referred to appears to be identical with the 

 N. elongatum from Southern India. I have collected it in several valleys 

 below Simla between 5,000 and 6,000 ft., and below Mussoorie and 

 Dalhousie at about 5,000 ft,, or rather lower. It is generally found in 

 wooded ravines in the immediate neighbourhood of streams. It does 

 not seem to me to be very near any variety of N. filix Tnas. It differs 

 from the compound forms of var. normalis by its more herbaceous 

 texture and darker colour, never having the pale bluish tint of the 

 under surface so characteristic of that and other varieties of N. filix 

 mas. 



In the dry state, when much of its characteristic habit is lost, it 

 bears some resemblance to the high level ferns referred by Mr. Clarke to 

 N. remotum, but I cannot admit any close affinity. There is an interval 

 of 2,500 ft. between the upper limit of the present form and the lower 

 limit of N. remotum.. Although some specimens of the two resemble 

 each other in shape, in general, those of var. marginata are broader and 

 less oblong. Their texture is thicker and their cutting though similar 

 in character is coarser and larger. N. marginata never bears the black 

 scales which are abundant on the stipe and rhachis of N. remotum. The 

 veins are more prominent and the sori less close to the midrib. 

 Although these characters, thus stated in detail, are doubtless critical, 

 taken all together they constitute a difference of habit which, in con- 

 junction with the difference of range, seems to me to indicate specific 

 distinction. 



67. Nephrodium (Lastrea) remotum, Clarke. 



I adopt Mr. Clarke's name for this fern, without implying acqui- 

 esence in the view that it is identical with the European prototype. The 

 fern here referred to is common about Nagkanda at elevations between 

 8,300 ft. and 9,500 ft., but does not occur nearer Simla. It is a thin- 

 textured fern, some of the characters of which have been noticed under 

 the preceding. 



