Ferns of British India and Ceylon. 347 
Pleopeltis nuda, Hook. Exot. Fl. /. 63. P. Wightianum, Bedd. 
F. S. /. 180. (P. loriforme, Wall. Cat. 271, type-sheet^ belongs 
here, I believe, and not to simplex, it has larger fronds, but they are 
narrow and coriaceous and the veins hidden.) 
Himalayas, 1,000-10,000 feet elevation, very common, 
Khasya ; throughout South India ; Ceylon ; Malay Peninsula. 
(Also in the Malay Islands, China, Japan, Central and South 
Africa and its Islands.) 
Var. steniste, {Clarke.) With the fronds only i-io- lines 
broad and the sori projecting beyond 
the margin, but always superficial, r'^] 
is only a form of linearis, and it f ^ / 
quite graduates into the type, his | ^ j 
var. " polymorpha " is an abnormal 
form of linearis with the fronds pin- 
natifid (such as occurs in many 
other ferns.) 
4. Pleopeltis simplex. (Sw.) 
Very like linearis, only the fronds are 
of thinner texture and much larger, 
up to 2 feet long by 1-2 inches 
broad, the veins more distinct, 
the sori always more or less deeply 
sunk and forming pustules on the N°i94-. 
upper side of the fronds, sometimes pleopeltis linearis. {T/umb.) 
quite sunk in a cyst with visible margins, but never nearly so promi- 
nent as in stenophylla, which also differs in its smaller size, much 
more rigid texture and fewer veins. Sw. Syn. Fil. 27. Polyp, 
excavatum {Bory.), Willd. Sp. PI. v. 158. P. Grevilleanum, Wall. 
Cat. 5169. P. sesquipedale. Wall. Cat. 275. P. lineare, var. /3 
simplex, Hook^ Syn. Fil. 354. 
Himalayas, confounded by Hooker (in his Sp. Fil.) and by 
Clarke with linearis, but kept distinct by all other botanists, and 
