THE FERNS OF NORTH-WESTERN INDIA. 
207 
c< Stipes tri— vel quadripollicaris paleaceus. Eachis universalis atque partia 
lis paleacea sed pales tenuiores. Frondes sesqui-vel bipedales bipinnatm. 
Pinnae tripollicares et longiores. Pinnulce oblon go-subfaleatm acutae basi 
cuneafcse sursum acute auriculatm, serratm, serraturis mucronatis. Pinna in- 
Sma superior reliquis longior pinnatifido-serrata.- Son subrotundi. Affine 
A. aculeato sed prmter formarn pinnularum prsecipue pinnma infima pinnati- 
fida et habitu laxiore diversum. W.” 
Kashmir : Chittapani Vy. 8000', Trotter ; Dardpura 5-7000', and Aud’rbug 7000', 
MacLeod ; Pir Panjab and Gulmarg 7000', Gammie 189L 
Punjab : Hazara Hist.— Black Mt., Kalim Gali 8000', Dutliie 1888 ; near Kala- 
pani 6-7000', Trotter 1%§\).—Chamba— McDonell, comm. 1885 ; above Chamba town 
7000', Blanf. 1886 ; Kullu 6-8000', Coventry 1891 : Simla Reg . — Simla, eastward to 
Hatu Mt. 48-8800', ^lope, Blanf.', Bliss ; Bashahr Forest 8000', Lace. 
N.-W. P. : D . D. Diet.— Jaunsar 48-8000', Brandis, Dutliie, C. G. Sogers, Gamble ; 
Mussooree 6500' and downwards, very common ; in the Dun (Valley)— Nalota Kh&la 
2500' or more, Hope 1880 and 1891, some very large ; T. Garh.— Nila Vy. 11—12,000' ? 
Duthie 1888 ; Sahlra Forest 7000', Deota 5000' and Bamsu 6000 ', Gamble 1898-85 j 
Eumaun— near Karim 6200', and Naini Tal, S. and W. 1848, and Hope 1861 ; Ralam 
Valley 11-12,000', Duthie; Lohughat 5000', Trotter; Ramganga Vy. and elsewhere 
5000', MacLeod. 
Distrxb.— N. <$‘‘ Centr . Amer. Fur. : common. Asia : nea^ the Black Sea ; N, 
Ind.”~ Sikkim ; Assam— Khasia. 
After having renewed acquaintance with the living European plant, and 
having gone through the specimens of it and from all habitats, in the Kew 
Herbarium, including the British collection of the late Mr, Thomas Moore 
which shows what a wonderfully variable species it is (without taking into 
account mere sports and abnormal developments), I find I cannot definitely 
separate from A. angular e any of the Himalayan material which has been placed 
under that species. But I will indicate where differences occur. In my own 
collection I have, from North-Western India, 32 sheets, on which are 36 speci- 
mens, some of which consist of 2, 3, and even more fronds, besides unmounted 
duplicates. 
1, As to scales . Some of the Himalayan specimens have no broad ovate 
scales on the stipes— such as the European specimens all have : many instead are 
clothed near the base with long linear-acuminate scales, which pass into’ mere hairs 
higher up, and along the rhachis. These scales and hairs are generally dark- 
brown or nearly black, but occasionally they are of lighter, dull-brown 
colour. I have, however, seen hairs on a few British specimens. Some speci- 
mens have large, broad, ovatc-acuminate, hair-pointed scales, mixed with narrow' 
linear-acuminate scales, which become almost hairs on the rhachis : the broader 
scales are bi-coloured, but the very dark-brown colour of the centre seems to 
belong to the upper surface, and the under surface and narrow margins are 
