Tha Fern-Allies and Characeae of the Malay 



Peninsula. 



By H. N". Kidley, c.m.g., f.r.s. 



The Fern-allies are taken to mean all the vascular Cryptogams 

 exclusive of the true ferns and thus include the Lycopodiaceae, 

 Selaginellaceae and Iihizocarpeae. 



The only other group of existing Fern-allies, Equisetaceae, is 

 not represented in the Malay Peninsula, though the common tropi- 

 cal Asiatic species, Equisetum debile, Eoxb., may be expected to 

 turn up in the mountains as it occurs in all the countries surround- 

 ing our area. 



The most important works consulted for this paper are Spring's 

 Monographe de la famille des Lycopodiacees 1842-1849, Baker's 

 Fern-allies, published in 1887, and Van Kosenburgh's Malayan Fern- 

 Allies dated 1915. In the Kew Herbarium, British Museum and 

 Linnean Society's collections, I have seen all the types of Linnaeus, 

 Springy Baker, Hooker and Hieronymus which relate to our country, 

 the only exceptions being one or two types of Spring's collected in 

 Penang by Gaudichaud. Col. Beddome was identifying my speci- 

 mens at Kew at the time of his death, and had nearly finished them. 



Distribution. As all these plants except the Rhizocarpeae 

 possess dust-like spores like the Ferns, it would appear at first pro- 

 bable that most species would have a world-wide distribution or at 

 least there would be a very limited number of endemic species, 

 OAving to the long distances to which such spores can be borne on 

 the wind, as also to the great antiquity of the group. In the 

 Lycopodiaceae we have two species of Psilotum and one Lycopodium 

 of very extended range. The two Psilotums range over all tropical 

 countries and as far as Florida and New Zealand. P. triquetrum 

 being the commonest. It grows on trees, especially Mangroves, 

 rocks, walls, etc., very readily establishing itself. Though at least 

 ten species have been made out of it, it really varies very little, the 

 forms made into species by Karl Muller being merely states due 

 to its habitat. P. complanatum seems more of an island plant and 

 to be absent from the Peninsula of India and from Africa. It is 

 generally to be found on Mangrove trees. 



Lycopodium cernuum extends all over the tropical regions and 

 into Japan, the Azores, New Zealand and St. Paul's island. It 

 frequents rather dry spots on the edges of woods and in open 

 country, and especially poor soil. It used to come up persistently 

 in some of the grass plots in the Singapore Botanic Gardens where 

 the soil was exceptionally poor. It frequented indeed much the 

 same kind of country as does the bracken (Pteris aquilina) though 

 its distribution is not so wide. It is quite absent from our dense 

 wet forests and from very wet ground, but it is often to be found 



Jour. Straits Branch R. A. Soc, No. 80, 1919. 



