26 
FERNS : BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 
three above alluded to, I may mention Kaulfussia Assa- 
mica, a remarkable Marattiaceous Fern found in Assam, 
having ample trifoliate somewhat fleshy fronds, from 
eighteen inches to two feet in height, with the fructi- 
fication, which consists of hollow circular sporangia, 
scattered irregularly on the under surface. It is allied 
to the K. (Esculifolia from the Malayan islands, in- 
cluded in the following enumeration, and which is 
extremely rare, if indeed it be not altogether lost 
from our gardens : Lomaria glauca, a Fern of Khasaya, 
with pinnate fronds, fine glacous underneath, two 
feet high; and, finally, the Alsophila gig ant ea, a native 
not only of Silhet, Nepal, and other parts of India, 
but of Ceylon, Penang, and other Indian islands, a 
magnificent Tree-fern with a trunk fifty feet high, 
bearing a crown of large bi- or tri-pinnate fronds, the 
segments of which are very variable. Dr. Thwaites, 
in his “ Flora of Ceylon,” enumerates 214 Ferns, of 
which about one-half are embodied in the following 
pages, but many are yet rare, and several have failed 
to become established. This is especially the case with 
Asplenium ( Actiniopteris ) radiatum , Actmostachys 
radiata, and the singular Polystichum anomalum, a 
most remarkable Fern, which bears perfect sori on 
both sides ; it is found at an elevation of from 5,000 
to 6,000 feet, and no doubt our want of success in not 
keeping it, as well as the unhealthy look of other 
Ceylon Polystichums, is owing to their being placed 
in the tropical house, — their elevation and their 
resemblance to the European Polystichum aculeatum 
indicates that they would be more at home in the 
temperate house. Several interesting species have yet 
to be introduced, such as the small pinnatifid Poly - 
