256
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POLYPODIUM,
Tripinnate (rarely bipinnalej,
§ PHEGOPTERIS.
or variously decompound.
193-223.
193. P . (Phegopteris) davallioides, M e t t . ; caudex slender
s u b e r e c t flexuose scaleless radicant with wiry fibres terminated b y a tuft of scaly stramineous stipites a span to a foot
and more high, fronds 1 - 2 feet high ovate acuminate firnimembranaceous quadripinnate, primary secondary and tertiary
pinnae petiolate, ultimate ones ovate cuneate and subpetiolulate at the base about \ o f an inch l o n g pinnatifid with few
oblongo-obovate obtuse segments pinnate at the base, the
ultimate pinnule broader than the segments and lobed, veins
and simple or forked veinlets subflexuose terminating b e l o w
the a p e x of a lobe and there bearing the rather small globose
sorus.—Monachosorum, Kze. in Schk. Fil. Suppl. ii. p. 1. t.
101. Polypod., Metten. Polypod. p. 3 2 . P . subdigitatum,
BL Fil. Jav. p. 196. ¿ . 9 3 . Metten. Polypod. p. 3 2 . A s p i dium, Bl. Fil. Jav. p. 1 7 1 . Moore, Index Fil. p. 70. P o l y p o dium coniifolium, Wall. Cat.n. 326.—¡3, angustilobum; fronds
v e r y black w h e n dry, ultimate lobes or segments narrow or
acute.
Hab. Nepal, Wallieh, 1821. Sikkim, 7000-8000 feet, Hook. fil. et Thomson.
Boutan, T/ios. Lohb. Malay Islands, in the mountains, 3000-7000 feet of alt.:
Java, Blume, T/ws. Lobb. Malay Peninsula, Sir W. Norris.—Kina
Balou,
Borneo, alt. 6000 feet, Low.—I have no means of determining which of the two
authors who have described this Fern has the right of priority in regard to specific
name, Blume or Kunze; but it is certain the plant was first known to Dr. Wallieh, who largely distributed it under the name of Polypod. coniifolium, but which
I do not find adopted by any one. On some of that gentleman's original specimens from Nepal, on Dr. Hooker's from Sikkim, and on those from Sir W. Norris,
are clusters of tubcriform excrescences in the axils of the primary pinnae, three or
four together of what may be gemma; or viviparous buds, or, possibly, fungi, as
large as a good-sized pea, but oval in shape, rusty colour externally from a downy
covering, hard (when dry) ; internally is a dark pulverulent mass.
194. P . (Phegopteris) dareceforme, H o o k . ; caudex thickish
creeping densely ferrugineo-paleaceous with lanceolate m u c h
acuminated scales, stipes 4 inches l o n g glossy pale-chestnut
coloured, frond a span long ovato-deltoid submembranaceous
bipinnate, primary pinnse 4 - 5 inches l o n g 1^ inch wide o b long-lanceolate subsessile acuminate subpinnatifid, segments
linear or subspathulate obtuse simple or bifid, veinlets solitary
in each segment clavate terminating below the a p e x bearing
a sorus generally m u c h b e l o w the clavate a p e x , capsules v e r y
few in each sorus.—Hook. 2d Cent, of Ferns, t. 24.
Hab. Khasya Hills, Simons, n. 98.—This has some affinity with Pol. davallioides,
but is much smaller, and the caudex and the segments of the pinnules are very
different.