84 
Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 
Throughout India, Ceylon, and the Malay Peninsula, in the 
plains and on lower slopes of the hills. 
(Also in South China, Tropical Africa, the Malay Islands, Java, 
Mauritius, and Cape Verde Islands.) 
Var. /3 Edgeworthii. Pinnae and rachis glabrous; pinnae 
less cut on the upper margin. Adiantum Edgeworthii. Hook. Sp. 
Fil ii. 14. Bedd. F. B. I. /. 17. 
Nepal, Mooltan, Gurwhal. Perhaps a distinct species. 
Clarke refers this to rhizophorum Wall. Cat. 82, but that plant has 
the rachis scabrous above, and is one of the forms of typical caudatum. 
Var. y SOBOLIFERUM. Stipcs petioles and rachis winged. 
Hook, Sp. Fil ii. 13. Bedd. F. B. L t 19. 
Birma. 
4. Adiantum capillus veneris. (Z.) Stipes suberect, rather 
■slender, 4-9 inches long, polished, blackish, naked ; fronds bipinnate, 
with a short terminal pinna and numerous erect-patent lateral ones 
on each side, the lowest slightly branched again ; segments \-\ inch 
broad, the base cuneate, the outer edge rounded, deeply lobed from 
the circumference in the direction of the centre, and the lobes again 
bluntly crenated, lowest petioles \ inch long, texture pellucid-her- 
baceous, thin ; rachis and both surfaces naked ; sori roundish or 
obreniform, placed in the roundish sinuses of the crenations. 
Hook. Syn. Fil. p. 123. Bedd. F. S. I. f. 4. 
Madras Presidency, west side, common on banks of rivers in the 
plains, and up to 5,000 feet on the mountains; Ceylon; North India, 
in many localities. 
(Also in Europe, Africa, America, and Australia.) 
5. Adiantum ^thiopicum (Z.) Stipe 6-9 inches long, rather 
slender, erect, dark chestnut brown, poHshed, naked; fronds up to 
18 inches long, 6-9 inches broad, deltoid in outHne, 3-4-pinnate ; 
lower pinnules 3-4 inches long, 2-3 inches broad, deltoid ; ultimate 
segments \-\ inch across, suborbicular, straight or subcuneate or 
rounded at the base, the upper part broadly not deeply lobed ; tex- 
ture thinly pellucid-herbaceous ; rachis and surfaces naked ; sori in 
several roundish or transversely oblong patches in rounded hollows 
