Ferns of British India and Ci:ylon. 467 
fronds pendulous, ribbon-like, without 
a distinct stem, 1-3 feet long, 1-3 
inches broad, simple or forked, texture 
fleshy ; no midrib and the veining not 
distinct ; fertile spike single, arising 
low down on, but above the base of, 
the sterile segment, 2-6 inches long, 
on a peduncle shorter than itself. 
Linn. Sp, PL- 15 18. Bedd. F. S. I. 
t, 269. 
Ceylon, at no great elevation ; 
Malay Peninsula ; Assam (?) 
(Also in Malay and Polynesian 
Islands ; Mauritius ; Australia ; Philip- 
pines.) 
N<?29l. 
OPHIOGLOSSUM TENDULUM. (Z.) 
GENUS XCVII.— HELMINTHOSTACHYS. {Kaulf) 
{Helminthos^ a worm ; stachys^ a spike.) 
Capsules in long crested clusters which form a long loose spike ; 
veins forked, free fertile spike rising from the base of the leafy 
segment; fronds stipate, sterile segments foliaceous, digitate. A 
genus of a single species. 
I. HELMINTHOSTACHYS ZEYLANiCA. {Limi. under Osniunda.) 
Rhizome thick, fleshy, creeping ; stipes often i foot long, barren 
segment palmately pinnate, often in three principal divisions which 
are stalked, and again forked or pinnate, the ultimate divisions linear- 
oblong, 3-4 inches long, |-i inch broad, the apex acuminate, the 
edge slightly toothed or entire, texture herbaceous ; fertile spike 
solitary, arising from the base of the barren segment, 3-4 inches 
long, \ inch broad, the firm peduncle about as long as the fructi- 
fication. Linn. Sp. PI, 15 19. LLook. and Bauer ^ Gen. Fil. t. 48B. 
Bedd. F. S. L. t. 69. 
