Ferns of British Injha and Ceylon. 
rachis soft, appearing triangular or furrowed when dry ; primary 
pinnae narrow linear-oblong, hardly narrowed at the base ; secondary 
pinnai J-i inch, oblong, patent at right angles to the rachis of the 
primary pinnae, sessile or de current, serrate or pinnatifid ; margin 
bluntly or acutely toothed ; involucres in two rows on the secondary 
pinnae, short, oblong, subpersistent. Benih. in Schrad. Neu. Jour. i. 
//. II. 26. Clarke. F. N. I. p. 491. 
I follow Mr. Clarke here, as he has an intimate knowledge of 
this fern and its varieties in a growing state, he says that there are 
two main types of the Himalayan Filix-foemina, viz. : — ist, with a suc- 
culent rachis, appearing triangular or grooved when dry, green, 
involucre sabpersistent ; 2nd, with a firm rachis, appearing round 
in the dried specimens, often red ; involucre less persistent, often 
fugacious. 
Var. I. DENTiGERA. i Wall.) Cutting nearly as in the 
European type (not nearly so fine as in pectinata), green, rachis 
succulent, grooved when dry ; involucre subquadrate, or horseshoe- 
shaped, smaller and less persistent than in the European type. 
(Polypodiam dentigerum. Wall. Cat. 334.) 
Himalayas 6,000-11,000 feet-, from Kashmir to Bhot^n, common 
from Nepal westwards. 
Var. 2. PECTINATA. {Wall.) Very finely cut, tripinnate, 
4-pinnatifid, bright green ; rachis slender, but scarcely succulent or 
grooved when dry ; involucre subquadrate, or short oblong, little 
horseshoe-shaped, subpersistent. Wall. Cat. 231. Clarke., F. N. I. 
t. 57. Bedd. F. S. I. t. 154, s/nall form. 
Himalayas, Sikkim to Gurwhal 2,000-5,000 feet elevation ; 
Parasnath 4,000-5,000 feet ; Mountains of the Godavery and Cen- 
tral India ; Mahableshwar ; Scinde ; Mount Aboo. 
Var. 3. ATTENUATA. {Clarke.) i-pinnate ; base of the stipes 
densely clothed with broad lanceolate scales ; rachis succulent when 
dry, grooved or triangular ; fronds small, very narrow, much tapering 
at both ends ; pinnae patent, very close together, deeply regularly 
pinnatifid. into oblong serrated segments, scarcely a quarter inch long ; 
