THE FERNS OF NORTH- WES TERN INDIA . 
253 
Distbib.— Asia : N. Ind. (Him.)) Bhot&n Griffith] Assam— Sylket Station (alt 
300'), Hook. fil. and T. 1 1, and C. B. Clarke, Manipur ; Bengal— Chittagong, ill fil. 
and T. T and C. B. Clarke . Malacca, Malay Archipelago. N. Borneo. 
Mr. Clarke says in his ‘Review,’ “Considered a variety of N. exaltata in 
Hk. and Baker. Syn. Fil. 301 ; but with the arrival of more material 
Mr. Baker inclines to admit it as a good species. They both grow together 
plentifully in Sylhet Station, but are there easily distinguished.” 
N. exaltata does not appear to climb at all, whereas N. volubilis climbs 
25—30 feet (Beddome says 50 feet) to the tops of trees. (Perhaps the 
specific name excTata is thought sufficient to cover this notable difference of 
habit : if a fern named exaltata does not climb 30 or 50 feel high, it certainly 
ought to do so.) My specimen from Naini Tfll, in Kumaun, consists of eight 
inches of glabrous, wiry, rhizome, with two spurs, three inches apart, from 
which spring not-only clusters (pairs) of stipes as in Mr. Clarke’s figure, but also 
clusters of very long roots, which have hardly been indicated by Mr. Clarke’s 
artist. I gathered it by the side of the path (or road) which then (1861) led up 
Chinar Mountain, through the jungle at the north end of the Naini Tal Glen. 
The plant was growing on the ground, and 1 gathered only the portion above 
described. I showed this to Mr. Clarke and Mr. W. S. Atkinson in Calcutta 
in 1872 ; and they agreed in naming it N'.ramosa , Moore, — in error, as I after- 
wards saw. The specimen was mounted, with the rest of my collection, when 
I was at home later in 1892, and the sheet has ever since been in *my possession. 
Genus 25. O lean dr a, Cav. 
1. O. Wallichii, Hook.; Syn. Fil. 302; O.Wallichii, Presi., C. R. 
542 ; Bedd. H. B. 287. 
Punjab : Simla Reg.— Simla 5-6000', Edgeworth, Bates, Gamble, Blanf., Trotter, 
Bliss. “ Not common, but locally abundant ; growing on perpendicular rock faces 
between 5500' and 6000',' " Blanford in List. 
N.-W. P. : D. D. Dirt. — Mussooree, in Herb. Dalzel, 1860 ; “The Park 11 68-6500', 
on trees, Mackinnons 1870, Hope 1887, 1895 : T. tf^.-Jumna Vy., Duthie 1883 ; 
“ Garhwal,” 5-6000', Dr. J. L. Stewart, B. Garh .— above Bansbagar 4-5000' and 
6-7000', Duthie 1885 ; Kumaun — Mohargiri 6500', S. & W. 1848 ; near Nairn T &], 
Hope 1861, on wet rocks ; Gori Valley 5-8000', Duthie 1884, 8-9000', Duthie 1886 ; 
Dhankuni Pass 8500', Trotter 1891 ; Kala Muni Ridge 9000', MacLeod 1893 ; “grows 
chiefly ou rocks, occasionally on trees. 1 " 
Distrib.— -Asia : N. Ind. (Him.), Nepal, Wallicti, Sikkim and Bhotan ; Assam— 
Khasia, Eohima and N. Manipur 5500'. Burma, Malay Penins. 
The frouds of this fern grow larger than is stated in the books : 1 have 
Mussooree specimens over 18 in. 1. The creeping rhizome is generally free 
only clinging to the trunks of trees and to rocks by its long wiry roots : it 
winds round and up the trunks, branching in all directions— frequently at right 
angles. The fronds droop, and form a beautiful clothing to the tree trunks. 
