FERNS OF THE MALAY PENINSULA. 3 



their numerous leaflets, L. circinatum and L. micro phyllum. 

 So abundant are these ferns climbing over bushes and 

 through grasses, that they are extensively used in decorating 

 ballrooms in the form of twisted ropes of the ferns. 



Anisogonium esculenttim is a very common fern fringing 

 the banks of muddy rivers in dense thickets, and very abun- 

 dant too is the "Lamiding" Stenochloena palustris scrambling 

 and climbing over trees and bushes. Both of these last 

 mentioned ferns are eaten as potherbs -by the Malays. 



Acrosticlium aureiim a big tufted fern occurring in tidal 

 river mud all over the warmer parts of the world is very abun- 

 dant. It occasionally is to be met with in damp places far 

 away from the sea or any tidal river. In most of these places 

 however I believe that it has merely persisted for many years 

 after the river on whose banks it formerly grow has been 

 silted up and now forms part of the dry land. A large clump 

 still grows in the Economic Gardens at Singapore where the 

 original river on which it doubtless first started its growth 

 has been dry land since any history of it has been known, 

 though K~ipah fruits still dug up in the surrounding soil prove 

 that at one time the tides reached this spot. I have also 

 found the Acrosticlium far inland at the base of Gunong 

 Pantai in Johor, and still further from the sea at Bukit 

 Asahan at the foot of Mount Ophir and over thirty miles from 

 the Coast. Most of the ferns however occur in a more isolated 

 manner, though many are very abundant. 



The richest localities for ferns are the wet densely 

 forested hills at altitudes of from 1000 to 5000 feet but the 

 damp rocky woods of the plains are also very rich. The drier 

 woods are less abundantly supplied, but many species are very 

 characteristic of this kind of locality. Such are the Schizoeas, 

 Lindsayas, Nephrodiums. 



Even the sands of the sea-coast produce some species such 

 as Davallia solida and D. elegans, the Httmatas and Schizaea 

 diclwtoma. At high elevations there is a noticeable dis- 

 appearance of the thin textured ferns such as the Nephro- 

 cliums and Lastraeas, which are replaced by the more cori- 



R. A, Soc, No. 50, 1908. 



