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70 Lomaria Patersoni, var. elongata, Bl. 
Bed. 1. tt. 28 and 28A. This is a very distinct fern from any other 
Ceylon one. Common in the damp forests of the Kandyan country. The young 
■simple fronded plants are very unlike the older and pinnated ones. On the 
hanks of a stream in the forest above Le Vallon in abundance, and elsewhere 
in the Kandyan country. 
Tribe 7. Blechne^e. 
71- Blechnum Orientate, Linn. 
Bed. 1. t. 29. This is one of the most common ferns m the island, 
growing on banks of streams, or on moist rich cuttings along roads, fields, &c., from 
the coast up to 2000 or 3000 feet, and always remarkable by the redish color 
of its young fronds. It can be easily distinguished by this peculiar feature, 
-and the traveller in the interior is sure to see abundance of this fern covering 
the steep damp sides of nearly every road in the Kandyan country. Miss 
Gordon Gumming took particular notice of' this Fern during her travels 
in Ceylon. v 
72. Doodia dives, Kze. 
Bed, 1. 222. “Woods of the Central Province.” Thwaites. I found a good 
supply of this fern under the shelter of a large projecting rock, on the upper 
edge of Richland estate, Kalibokka, and in a similar situation amongst rocks in 
the forest between Galaha and Hingurugalla estates. 
Tribe 8. Asplenre. 
73. Asplenium (Thamnopteris) Nidus, Linn. 
Bed. 1. t. 123 and 11 t. 197. This is one of the commonest and most 
remarkable of our Ceylon ferns, growing generally in the forks of trees, and 
very often accompanied by the beautiful ribbon ferns, Ophioglossum pendulum, 
and Vittaria elongata. Indeed it is no nncommon sight in the damp forests 
of the Western Province to find specimens of the Bird’s nest Asplenium in the 
fork of a tree high over-head, with its fronds from three to six feet long, 
whilst from the singular mass of decayed vegetable matter in which it grows, 
the Ophioglossum may be seen like pendant ribbons sometimes twelve feet long, 
and the Vittaria from three to four feet long, and only about a quarter of an inch 
broad. The A. Nidus, is grown in large tubs in Colombo, and one of these 
sent by Mr. Layard to decorate the ball room for the Duke of Edinburgh 
measured from eight to ten feet across. The tops of columns of some of the 
ancient ruins in India seem to have been imitations of this fern. In page 
400 of the 6th volume of the As. Researches, it is stated that boys rest on 
this fern. 
74. Asplenium ensiforme, Wall. 
Bed. 1. t. 125. Found on trunks of trees and faces of rocks in the 
damp forests of the Central Province. Beddome’s figure is not a good one; 
the sori are much longer and narrower, and the fronds are more accuminated 
than shown in B’s figure. It is not a common fern in Ceylon. 
75. Asplenium normale, Don. 
Bed. 1. t, 133. This is a very abundant fern growing in rich vegetable 
soil in the shaded forests of the Central Province. It can scarcely be con- 
founded with No, 78, the one most like it. 
76, Asplenium Wightianum, Wall. 
Bed. 1. tt. 126, 127. This is an abundant fern growing on the trunks of 
trees or sides of rocks in the higher forests of the Central Province, and is 
