ASPLENIUM. 



525 



an erect caudex (stem) and borne on firm, erect stipes (stalks) 1ft, to ljft. 

 long and hardly scaly below, are from 2ft. to 3ft. long and Din. to 15in. 

 broad, and are provided on each side of the central stalk, below the pinnatifid 

 point, with fifteen to twenty pinnEe (leaflets) 6in. to Sin. long and ljin. 

 broad, which are cut half or two-thirds of the distance to the rachis (stalk 

 of the leafy portion) into slightly-toothed, oblong lobes or segments. The 

 sori (spore masses) are about Jin. long and disposed close to the midvein of 

 each fertile segment. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 236. 



A. (Euasplenium) crinicaule — Eu-as-ple'-ni-um ; cri-nic-au'-le (having 

 hairy stalks), Hance. 

 This stove species, native of China, Sikkim, and the Neilgherries, is the 

 plant described by Beddome in his " Ferns of Southern India," t. 141, as 



Fig. 87. Frond of Asplenium crinicaule 

 (f nat. size). 



A. falcatum ; but it is totally different from the true A. falcatum of Lambert. 

 It is also called A. Beddomei: The fronds of A. crinicaule, Gin. to 

 9in. long and ljin. broad, are borne on erect stalks Sin. to 4in. long and 

 slightly covered with dark brown hairs. There are on each side of the stalk 

 fifteen or more horizontal, sub- coriaceous pinnae (almost leathery leaflets), 

 with bluntish points and edges irregularly crenated (notched), the upper side 

 narrowed suddenly and sometimes auricled at the base, the lower obliquely 

 truncate (Fig. 87). The sparingly-produced sori (spore masses) are linear 

 (long and narrow) and very oblique. — Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 208. 



