19] 
Genus XLVII.—Acrosticnum L. 
(Deriv. Gr. Akros, highest ; stichos, order— 
fructification at the top of the frond.) 
Veins uniform, reticulate, meshes without 
free included veinlets, no main veins present ; 
fronds pinnate, the upper pinnz smaller and 
wholly covered with sporangia on the under- 
surface. Stipes adherent to caudex. 
Acrostichum aureum L. 
Caudex erect. Stipes tufted, naked, glossy, 
1-2 feet long. Fronds 2-6 feet long, 1-2 feet 
broad, pinnate, the pinnz lanceolate oblong ; 
apex acute or blunt, sometimes retuse and 
mucronate; base wedge-shaped; margin en- 
tire; the upper pinne which, as a rule, are 
fertile are sessile with the inferior base adnate 
and decurrent on the rachis; the lower pinne 
sterile and stalked. Rachis and surfaces naked. 
Texture leathery. 
Distribution: Bombay Presidency—North 
Kanara, on the banks of salt-water creeks and 
in marshy places near the coast. 
Tidal backwaters throughout the Indian 
region. Throughout the world in warm places 
near the sea. 
