248 Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 
hairs ; fronds 2-3 feet long ; pinnae close, lanceolate, 4-6 inches long, 
i-i-l inch broad, gradually reduced below; pinnules oblong, blunt, 
usually distinct, sometimes subpinnatifid, the segments with copious 
aristate teeth, the edge often incurved ; texture herbaceous ; rachises 
clothed like the stipe; midrib beneath rather scaly; sori in rows 
close to the midrib of the pinnules. Hook. Syn. Fil. 274. Bedd. 
F. B. L t 227. L. Falconeri, Hook, Syn. Fil 277. Bedd. F. B, I. 
t, 41. 
Himalayas; Kashmir to Sikkim, 11,000-15,000 feet elevation. 
Nearly allied to Brunoniana if it be really distinct, which I doubt. 
25. Lastrea odontoloma. {Moore.) Stipes 6 inches, soft 
thick chestnut-coloured, with scattered deciduous lax lanceolate scales ; 
fronds up to 10 inches long, by 6-8 inches broad, oblong-lanceolate, 
truncate at the base ; pinnae often widened at the base, 2-pinnate ; 
secondary pinnae elliptic-oblong, pinnatifid (sometimes deeply) ; seg- 
ments rounded, sharply serrate ; texture ttiin becoming hyaline 
towards the margin ; venation subflabellate ; involucre fimbriate. 
Clarke, F. N. I. p. 521. L. Filix-mas, var. odontoloma, Hook. Sy7i. 
Fil. p. 498. Bedd. F. Sup. t. 373, not F. S. I. t. 114 {^vhich is typical 
Filix-mas.) 
Himalayas, Chumba to Bhotan, 11,000-16,000 feet elevation. 
I have followed Mr. Clarke in separating this from Filix-mas, 
but T fear I may be wrong in so doing, as specimens of Mr. Clarke's 
Filix-mas, var. panda seem to connect this with that protean species ; 
but if it goes into Filix-mas, Brunoniana and barbigera must also be 
referred there. I find the greatest difficulty in distinguishing between 
this species and Brunoniana, the fimbriate involucre and the truncate 
base to the frond, seem the only reliable characters, the former, how- 
ever, is of no specific value, and the latter I fear is not constant 
(unless I still confuse the species), as some specimens which I 
believe to be Brunoniana, and decided by Mr. Clarke to be such, 
have the fronds without reduced pinnae at the base. 
26. Lastrea Filix-mas. {Linn, under Polypodium}) Stipes 
tufted, more or less clothed with scales, fronds up to about 
4 feet long, and about i foot broad pinnate to sub-bipinnate ; 
