32 
Ferns of Britispi India and Ceylon. 
oblong tripinnatifid ; main rachis with a narrow wing ; lower pinnae 
triangular-rhomboidal, divided down to a narrow centre into several 
pinnules on each side, the lowest of which are cuneate or rhomboidal, 
deeply pinnatifid, ultimate segments linear, i-ii line long, less than 
"la line broad; sori 2-12 to a pinna, terminal or axillary on the 
segments on both sides ; involucre small, divided down nearly to the 
base ; valves ovate or rounded entire or slightly denticulate. Swarfz, 
Syn. Fil. t. 149. Hook. Syn. Fil. p. 60. H. microglossum, V.D.B. 
Hook. Syn. Fil. p. 59. H. polyanthos /3. minor, Bedd. F. B. I. 
t. 306. H. Blumeanum, Spreng. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 266. 
Himalayas and Khasya mountains, 1,000-12,000 feet elevation. 
Western Ghats of the Madras Presidency; Ceylon; Birma. 
(Also widely distributed in all tropical and subtropical regions 
throughout the world.) 
The typical form is only from Northern India, and is a very 
large fern. 
Var. /3 MICROGLOSSUM is from the western ghats of South 
India. Bedd. ^, /. /. 306. A small form with the stipe more or 
less winged ; but Mr. Clarke sends me a fern under this name from 
Bhotan, which is intermediate between this and the type with some of 
the fronds running very close to Blumeanum. 
Var. 7 Blumeanum. Fronds very narrow and elongate, and 
pinnae sometimes simply pinnatifid only. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 266. 
Ceylon ; Tinnevelly and Travancore mountains. This' has 
generally been considered a quite distinct species by botanists in 
Ceylon and South India, but Mr. Clarke says it runs into the type in 
Northern India, and cannot be separated. With only Ceylon and 
South Indian specimens in view, it is difficult to consider them all 
forms of one species, but after seeing the Himalayan forms, I quite 
agree with Mr. Clarke that they cannot be separated as species. 
5. Hymenophyllum javanicum. {Spreng) Glabrous or nearly 
so; stipe 2-4 inches long, erect, margined above with a broad, 
crisped wing ; fronds 4-8 inches long, 3-4 inches broad, triangular, 
