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5. Lastrea felix-mas Presl. 
Stipes tufted, scaly. Fronds up to four feet 
long, one foot broad, pinnate-bipinnate ; pinne 
lanceolate, cut down nearly to the rachis into 
blunt, almost entire, crenate, or finely serrate 
segments, lower pinnz sometimes reduced. 
Texture almost leathery. Rachis scaly. Sur- 
faces sometimes naked, sometimes covered 
with hair-like scales. Veins forked or the lower 
ones pinnate. Sori on the back of the veinlets. 
Indusium kidney-shaped, naked. 
The following two varieties occur in the 
Presidency :— 
Var. elongata Bedd.— Lower pinnz not re- 
duced ; bi-tripinnate or rarely pinnate ; ultimate 
segments generally narrowed upwards from a 
broad base, rachises glabrous or scaly.’ 
Distribution: Bombay Presidency—Maha- 
bleshwar. 
’ Southern India, on the western mountains, 
4,000-6,000 feet; Ceylon; Himalayas and 
Khasya, 5,000-9,000 feet. 
Var. cochleata Bedd.—Fronds of two kinds. 
Sterile ones pinnate, almost bipinnate, lower 
pinnules lobed. Fertile fronds bipinnate with 
pinnules much contracted and covered with 
