258 JOURNAL, BOMBA Y NA TURAL HIS TOR Y SOCIETY, Vol. XV . 
with Mr. McDonelf, I detected the Chamba specimen in his possession ; and 
since then a few other specimens have turned up. Instead of making this a 
variety of the common Indian fern, B. lanuginomm , Wall., I bow to authority, 
and give it as B. virginianum , Sw., because the fertile segment of the frond 
separates just below the base of the sterile part, and the cutting is sharper than 
in B. lanuginmm , and the texture is not woolly. It is one of the rarest of 
Indian ferns. 
Now, in finally revising this article, and having had the advantage of studying 
well authenticated specimens of the American plant, I am all the more satis- 
fied that it is quite distinct from Wallich’s B. lanuginomm ; but I am not so 
sure as I was that the abo^e noted Indian specimens are the same as the 
American plant. More material Is desirable. 
4. B lanuginosiim, Wall. Cat. 48. B. virginianum , Sw., ®.,B. lanugi- 
nomm !, Wall. S^n. Fil. 448 ; B. virginianum, Sw., C. B. 588 (B. lanuginomm, 
Wall, given as a synonym.) B, virginianum , L. (under Osmunda), var. 
B. lanuginomm , (sp.), Wall. Cat. 48, Bedd. H. B. 471. 
Punjab : Clmmba McDonell, in List : Simla Reg,— Simla : not 
uncommon, Hope, Blanford, Trotter, Bliss. 
N.-W, P. : D. i>. Dist c , Mussooree, in various places, 46*7000', Duthie, Maekin- 
nons, Hope, A. Campbell j T. Garh .— Jumna Vy. 6-7000', Duthie near Sainjni, 
6000', Gamble 1898 ; Kumaun ; WalHch j Gajur 1W, Davidson; Naini Tal 
6000', Hope 1861 ; Almora 6*6500', Madden, S. & W., 5 848, Hope 1861 ; between 
Daudihath and Karela 5-6000', Duthie 1884 ; 6-8000 , M common ”, MacLeod 1893. 
DrsTBlB. — Asia : N. Ind. (Him.) Nepal, Wallich ; Sikkim and Bhotan common, 
Clarke ; Assam— Khasia Dist., 4-6000, very common, Clarke ; Manipur 6600'. 
S. Ind.— at the higher elevations on the W. Mts. Ceylon — above Newera Elya, 
China— Yunnan and Hupeh Henry ; Yunnan Hancock. 
The distinctions between B % virginianum and B . lanuginomm are thus stated 
by Beddome “ In the typical American plant the fertile branch arises from 
the base of the sterile portion, and the latter is quite glabrous : in the Indian 
plant the fertile branch always springs from well above the base, and the 
sterile portion is more or less, hairy.” These two distinctions being, with rare 
exceptions, coincident, are corroborative evidence of permanent and, I should 
say, specific differences. I see a few soft hairs on some specimens of B. virgini - 
anwn, but nothing amounting to wooliness. 
Clarke refers to Mildews monogram on BotrycJiium , and to his Fil. Europe, 
191-209, in which that author divides the genus into two main sections, viz,, 
(1) Cells of the epidermis straight : (2) Cells of the epidermis flexuose ; secondary 
pinnae of the lowest pair of pinnae anadromous ; and he (Clarke) says that 
the second section contains B. virginianum (the American type plant 
only) ; the first section comprising, among other species, B. lanuginosum ? 
Wall, which, Milde and Eraufci- both hold to jbe a good specie* 
