Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 107 
erect, naked; fronds 12-18 inches long, ovate-lanceolate, pinnate; 
pinnae acute, sometimes many, sometimes 7, 5, 3, or i, all simple, 
or the lowest pair 2 -fid, often i inch broad or rather more; margins 
where barren, entire, undulate, crisped or crenulate ; rachis naked ; 
texture coriaceous, surfaces bright green often glossy ; veins fine 
close, simple or forked at right angles from the midrib ; indusium 
membranous. Presl. Rel. HcEnk. Hook. Syn. Fil. p. 1^4. Clarke y 
F. N. I.p. 462. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 38. 
Plains and hills of Bengal up to 3,000 feet elevation, Western 
forests of Madras Presidency ; Birma. 
(Also in Malay Islands, and Guinea Coast.) 
Var. /3 STENOPHYLLA. Pinnse 3-4 or sometimes 2-1 subdigitate, 
fertile pinnse very long and narrow. Hook, and Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 130, 
Gurwhal and Nepal, 3,000-4,000 feet. 
4. Pteris Hookeriana. {Agardh) Stipes 6-12 inches long, 
naked, erect, pale ; fronds coriaceous, opaque, pinnate or bipinnate, 
9-12 inches long, 6-9 inches broad, with 2-6 pairs of sessile or 
stalked alternate or opposite entire pinn^, the largest of which is 
about 6 inches long, f-ii inch broad, the 2-4 lower pairs more 
or less pinnatifid ; rachis and both surfaces naked ; veins about 
I line apart at the base, simple or once-forked, conspicuous above, 
but scarcely visible beneath ; sori slightly intermarginal ; indusium 
narrow. Hook. Syn. Fil. p. 155. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 40. 
Ceylon, Adam's Peak, about 2,000 feet elevation, and the Southern 
provinces at low elevations. 
5. Pteris dactylina. {Hook.) Stipes 6-9 inches long, 
slender, wiry, naked ; fronds digitate, coriaceous, consisting of 3-7 
(usually 5) linear glabrous pinnae, 2-6 inches long by i\-2 lines 
broad, the barren margins serrate ; veins wide apart, thick and 
conspicuous, simple or forked; indusium broad. Hook. Syn. Fil. 
p. 155. Bedd. F. B. I. t. 23. 
Khasya^ 4,200 feet elevation ; Sikkim. 
6. Pteris ensiformis. {Burjn.) Stipes up to 10 inches long, 
