Prats 59. 
PTERIS semrpernnata, Linn. 
Semi-pinnated Pteris. 
Preris (§ Eupteris) semipinnata ; caudex stout, creeping, villous rather than 
squamose, as are also the glossy-brown stipites, about a span long; fronds 
broad-lanceolate, acuminate, a foot or more long, submembranaceous, pel- 
lucid, pinnate ; inferior pinnz semi-ovate, distant, subpetiolate ; superior 
margin undivided, inferior deeply subpectinato-pinnatifid ; the apex long, 
caudate ; segments oblong or linear, entire (except at the apex and in the 
sterile fronds, where they are serrated); upper pinne linear-oblong, un- 
divided, decurrently confluent at the base ; veins distant, forked. 
Preris semipinnata. Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 1534. Sw. Syn. Fil. p. 91. Willd. Sp. 
Pl. p. 388. Ag. Plerid.p.17. Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 2. p.169. Bentham, 
Fl. Hong-Kong. p. 448. 
Preris flabellata. Schk. Fil. ¢. 93, not Thunb. 
Preris alata. Lam. (not Gaudich.) 
Preris dimidiata. Bl. En. Fil. Jav. p. 210 (not Willd.) Osb. It. Chin. p. 
t.3.f. 1. 
B. subequilatera ; smaller, lower pinne pectinato-pinnatifid at both margins ; 
segments of the upper side abbreviated, and gradually reduced to the lowest 
pinnee, where they are only auricled at the base above. Hook. Sp. Fil. lc. 
p. 169. 
Preris dispar. Kze. in Bot. Zeit. 1848. p. 539. 
Has. India, Tranquebar, Sylhet, Wallich ; Khasya, alt. 3-4000 feet, Thomson 
and Hooker ; Ceylon, Mrs. General Walker ; Assam, Jenkins, Simons ; 
Java, Blume; Luzon, Cuming, n. 258; Borneo, Barber, Motley ; China, 
Osbeck, Vachell, Alexander; Hong-Kong, Wilford, C. Wright ; Japan, 
Miss Nelson, Babington.—Var. 8. Japan, Miss Nelson, Babington, C. 
Wright ; Hongkong, Dr. Lorraine; Loo-Choo, C. Wright ; Formosa, 
Wilford.—Cultivated at Kew. 
An extremely well-marked species. Our var. 8 the late Pro- 
fessor Kunze considered a distinct species, to which he gave the 
name of Pt. dispar, it is remarkable for the pinne being pinnatifid 
on both sides, sometimes almost equally so; but among my 
specimens I find all intermediate varieties. It is, however, gene- 
rally smaller with narrower segments, and these segments more 
acuminate. 
Puate 59. Fertile plant of Péeris semipinnata, Linn.,—natural size. Fig. 1. 
Portion of a fertile segment, showing the venation,—magnified. 
marcH Ist, 1862. 
