THE FERNS OF NORTH WESTERN INDIA. 
269 
membranous, stipes very short. I have never seen stipes as long as the fronds 
such as Clarke speaks of ; but some of Duthie’s from Kashmir are fths of the 
total length, and some of these have fronds | in. br., and look like narrow P. 
simplex. If the nature of the scales is the main specific character, all these 
various forms are one species, 
Blanford made a particular study of this fern at Simla, where it is very abun- 
dant on Jako mountain, and he was at first inclined to make two varieties besides 
the type ; but in his finally printed list he gave that up. He says P. clath- 
rcitum is quite distinct from both P. lineare and P. simplex, though it often 
grows with the last-mentioned, which it much resembles in texture and mode of 
growth. ‘‘ The sori,” he says, <k are small, frequently oblong, of a bright orange 
colour, and sometimes confluent The stipes are generally 
shorter, and the fronds longer and more linear than in the specimen figured by 
Clarke/’ The sori are sometimes very large, e.g in a specimen of MacLeod’s 
from Kashmir they are one-eighth of an inch in the largest diameter, and more 
than one-quarter the width of the frond : these are full of scales. This species 
is not got in Mussooree, where both P. lineare and P. simplex are very 
common. 
P. alberti , Kegel — Descr, PI, nov., No. XVIII, 122, from Turkestan, is 
exactly the same as a small form, called P. dathratum , from the Himalaya at 
high altitudes, which might perhaps be separated and pub under P. alberti. 
28. P. membranaceum, Hon, <3., P. grandijolium , Wall. ; Syn. Fil. 
360 ; P. membranaceum , Don, C. R. 560. Pleopeltis membranaceum , Don, 
Bedd. H. B. 855. 
Kashmir : Tawi Yy. 4-5000', Trotter. 
Punjab : Chamba State— Chenab Vy. 5000', McDonell : '‘not common ” ; Kangra 
Yy. Dist.-r/i<te Trotter ; Simla Reg.— Simla, common. 
N.-W. P : D.D. Hist .— in theDtin : Nalota Khdla and elsewhere at the foot of 
the Himalaya, 2500' and upwards ; Mussooree 5-7000', on moist rocks,- and trunks of 
trees, common ; T. G-arh. Agl&r Yy. 4-5000', Tfuthie ; B. Garh:—Mts , FisheT ; 
Knmann — Mohargiri 6500', S. & W. ; Naini Tal 6500', on rocks by the Lake, Hope .1861 : 
not seen there in *1890 Sind 1894 ; elsewhere 25-5000', widely distributed. 
Distrib. — Asia : N. Ind. (Him.) Sikkim and Bhotdn ", Assam — Khasia Hist. 2-5000' : 
very common ; Bengal — Parasndth Mt. 3000', Clarke. S. Ind.— E. & W. Mts., 2-5000'. 
Ceylon. Tonkin. W. China— Yunnan, Henry. Philippines. 
Usually large ; but I have a fertile frond gathered in Kumaun, only 5 inches 
high, including the short stipes. All the specimens I possess seem to . belong to 
WallichYP. grandijolium, which is said to have sori smaller, and irregularly 
scattered. 
29. P. heterocarpuin, Bl. (non Met!) ; 3., P. Zippellii , BL, Syn. Fil. 
&60 ; P. Zipellii , CL R. 56 L Pleopeltis ZippellU, BL, Bcdd. H. B. 357. 
Punjab *, Chamba— Dalhousie, Col. Dyas ,fde Bedd, in H, B. 
