ASPLENIUM . 



579 



about Ootocamund, in the Neilgherries, and on the higher ranges of other 

 lofty mountains on the western side of the Madras Presidency. Its fronds, 

 lft. to ljft. long and 4in. to 6in. broad, are borne on firm, erect stalks Bill, 

 to 8in. long and clothed with deciduous woolly hairs ; they are furnished 

 with from twelve to twenty pairs of leaflets 2in. to 3in. long, of a coriaceous 

 (leathery) texture, and cut down throughout nearly or quite to the midrib 



Fig. 705. Two Pinnee of Asplenium Franconis 

 (I nat. size). 



into narrow-wedge-shaped pinnules (leafits), which are sharply toothed on 

 their outer edge. The sori (spore masses) are very narrow and radiate from 

 a common centre. — Hooker, Species Filicum, hi., p. 165. Nicholson, Dictionary 

 of Gardening, i., p. 131. Beddome, Ferns of Southern India, t. 144. 



A. Gardneri — Gard'-ner-i (Gardner's), Baker. 



A stove species, from Ceylon, producing from a short-creeping rhizome 

 (prostrate stem) lanceolate (spear-shaped) fronds Sin. to 12in. long, 3in. to 



4 b 2 



