﻿232 23. MESOCHLAENA. 



Rhizome short, ± erect. Stipes not articulate to the rhizome. Fronds 

 large, 2-pimiatifid ; veins anastomosing as in Nephrodium. Diels, in Engl. 

 & Prantl, Nat. Pfl.Fam., P, fig. 84; Christ, Farnkr. d. Erde, fig. 793. 



Malaya, Polynesia. 



^, Pinnae d'^j^ — 2 c.M. broad, cut to ^j^-way down to the casta. (1) M. polycarpa. 

 >tc.>tc. Pinnae 3—5 c.M. broad, cut to ^j^-way down to the costa. (2) M. larutensis. 



* (1) 11. polycarpa, Bedd., Handb. Ind. Ferns, 199; M. javanica, 

 R. Br:, Bedd., Ferns Br. I., II, tab. CCCXLIV; Didymochlaeiia polycarpa, Bk., 

 Rac, Flor. Btz., I, 197; Nephrodium javanicum, Hk., Fil. Exot., tab. LXII; 

 Aspidium polycarpum, BL, Christ, Farnkr. d. Erde, 249; Sphaerostephanos as- 

 plenioides, J. Sm., Ban. & Hk., Gen. Fil., tab. XXIV. 



Rhizome erect, densely clothed with linear-lanceolate, ciliate scales. Stipes 

 tufted. Fronds 60 — 200 c.M. long, pinnate, acuminate. Pinnae spreading, 

 close, linear-lanceolate, gradually narrowing from the + truncate base towards 

 the acuminate apex, the largest 15 — 25 c.M. long, 1^2 — ^ c.M. broad, the 

 edge cut down to V^-way or more to the costa into close, bluntish, oblong 

 lobes, lower pinnae reduced into several or numerous mere auricles oc- 

 cupying the largest part of the stipe. Texture herbaceous; rachis and 

 surfaces hairy; main veins pinnate in the lobes; veins numerous, close, the 

 2 — 3 lower anastomosing. Sori numerous, medial on the veins, ultimately 

 confluent; indusium villose and glandular. 



Malaya; Polynesia. 



* (2) II. larutensiiS, ». A. v. jr. f Nephrodium larutense, Bedd., Em^dh. 

 Ind. Ferns, Suppl., 73; Dryopteris larutensis, C. Chr., Ind. Fil.; — var. bor- 

 neensis. 



Stipes 20 — 30 c.M. long, furnished with very regular auricles (reduced 

 pinnae) below the pinnae, densely villous with short hairs as in the rachis. 

 Fronds 60—90 c.M. long. Pinnae 25—30 c.M. long. 3—5 c.M. broad, finely 

 acuminate at the apex, cut down i V4 towards the costa into short, sub- 

 falcate lobes, the base truncate or broadly cuneate. Texture herbaceous or 

 subcoriaceous ; upper surface hairy on the costae, veins and parenchyma, 

 under surface hairy on the costae and veins, the lamina furnished with minute 

 resinous dots; veins ± 10 pairs, ascending, the 5 — 6 lower pairs anasto- 

 mosing. Sori medial; indusium hairy. 



