﻿3. ALSOPHILA. 41 



paleaceous ; spines short, tipped with a black gland. Fronds large, 3-pinnatifid. 

 Pinnae + 60 c.M. long, + 25 c.M. broad. Pinnulae oblong, acuminate, pin- 

 natifid nearly to the costa. Lobes narrow, oblong, subobtuse, subfalcate, the 

 margin recurved, serrate. Texture subcoriaceous ; rachises pilose above, densely 

 paleaceo-crinite beneath; costae and veins often pilose, or scaly below; veins 

 1 X forked. Sori subcostal (conf. Hooker's drawing), mixed with crinite 

 scales, often covering the whole underside of the lobes. 

 Java; Ceylon, South. India. 



* (27) A. giauca, jr. Sm., Journ. of Bot., Ill, 419; A. contaminans. 

 Wall, Rac, Flor. Btz., I, 33 ; Hk., Spec. Fil., I, tab. XVIII ; A. Brunoniana, Bedd., 

 Ferns Br. I., I, lab. LXXXVI ; Gnoophora glauca, BL, (oldest name) ; — var. 

 celebica, Christ in Ann. Btz., XV, 79; — var. longepaleata, Christ, 1. c, 

 XIX, 42; — var. squamulata, densa & setulosa, Hassk. in Journ. of Bot., 

 VII, 524. 



Stipe and main and secondary rachises more or less aculeate with short 

 prickles and whether or not tomentose above. Fronds large, to 3 M. long, 

 to l'/2 M. broad, 3-pinnatifid to sub-3-pinnate. Pinnae + 12 — 24 c.M. broad, 

 lanceolate-oblong, acuminate, more or less stalked. Pinnulae linear- or oblong- 

 lanceolate, I'/j — 3 c.M. broad, cut down nearly to the costa or even pinnate 

 at the base into numerous, linear-oblong, blunt, acute or acuminate, subfalcate, 

 obscurely crenale to serrate segments, the fertile segments not rarely narrower 

 than the barren ones, the margin subrevolute. Texture more or less coria- 

 ceous; under surface glaucous; veins ± 8 — 12 on each side, mostly 1 — 2X 

 forked. Sori commonly nearer the costulae than the margin; receptacle sur- 

 rounded by a spurious indusium, consisting of a flat, orbicular, entire or lobed, 

 minute scale or a whorl of fibres. — A variable species. — The typical form 

 {var. robusla, Hassk.) has the rachis and the stipe reddish, often glaucous, 

 the stipe densely clothed at the base with long, pale-coloured scales ; the costae 

 and costulae naked or covered beneath with few, small, deciduous, bullate scales. 



Var. celehica: Pinnae and pinnulae short and broad; ultimate 

 segments not numerous, 2 — 3 m.M. apart; veins 5-furcate. 



War. longepaleata: Rachis yellowish-ochraceous, covered with 

 short, dark-coloured prickles and long, brown, linear-subulate, spreading scales. 

 Texture less coriaceous, less glaucous. 



War. i§iquaniulata: Costae and costulae densely scaly beneath. 



War. cEensa : Sori dense, confluent, at length covering the whole 

 under surface of the lobes. 



