Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 141 
Birma and Mishmee. 
The spathulate fronds with the winged stipe give this fern a very 
different appearance to any form of Nidus. 
3. Thamnopteris Simonsiana. {Hook.) Fronds 12-18 inches 
long, I -I J inch broad, tapering above into an acuminated point, and 
very gradually below into a short stem, the margin nearly entire ; 
midrib only rounded and prominent below ; texture coriaceous ; 
veins erect-patent, about line apart ; sori copious, reaching from the 
midrib to within a short distance of the edge. Hock. Syn. Fil. 191. 
Bedd. F. B. I. t. 247. 
Khasya and Jaintea hills up to 4,000 feet ; Chittagong; Madras 
Presidency, on the hills west of Vizagapatam, 3,000 feet. 
Mr. Clarke is in error in saying that it is found in Malabar : he 
unites it with Nidus, but it wo2ild Jiardly be safe to do so unless it be 
proved to vary in cultivation. 
GENUS XL.— ASPLENIUM. {Liim.) 
{A, privative; splen^ spleen ; in allusion to its medical properties.) 
Sori dorsal or sub-marginal, linear or oblong ; indusium similar 
in shape, straight, single, plane or tumid, bursting along the outer 
edge ; veins free. 
Fronds quite entire. 
I. AsPLENiUM ENSiFORME. {IValUch.) Stipcs tuftcd 1-3 inches 
long, firm, erect, scaly below ; fronds 8-20 inches long, J inch 
broad, much acuminated ; margin entire or nearly so, the lower 
part of frond very gradually narrowed ; texture coriaceous ; veins 
immersed, inconspicuous, erect-patent, usually once forked ; sori 
broad, reaching nearly to the midrib and margin. Wall. Cat. 200. 
Hook. Syn. Fil. p. 191. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 12^. A. stenophyllum, Bedd. 
F. B. 1. t. 147. 
Himalayas ; Gurwhal to Bhotan, 4,000-9,000 feet elevation ; 
Ceylon ; Birma ; Western forests of Madras Presidency. The South 
Indian, Ceylon, and Birma plant has fronds generally about 8 
inches long and nearly i inch wide. Some Himalayan examples 
have very long and very narrow fronds, but they cannot be separated 
