I ' ,
8 4
DAVALLIEÆ.
H umata. (See p ag e 4.)
1. Hamata veiiiia. (Blume.) Caudex creeping, paleaceous, stipes elongated, paleaceous witli lanceolate chaffy scales, fronds
coriaceous (a span or more high), bi-pinnate, pinnæ lanceolate, sub-petiolate pinnatifid, the lowermost ones at the base again pinnate, inferior
segments the largest, all of them serrato-dentate, rachis and costa beneath beset with broadly ovate obtuse chaffy appressed sub-peltate
scales, fructification small in the axils of the teeth, mvolucres sub-orbicular, rather broader than long. Hook Sp. Fil. i, page 15G.
Dawallia vestita. Bl. in Fn. Fil. Jav. p. 233.
Ceylon. (C, P. 3068.)
PLATE No. CCLIIL
M ic r o l e p ia . (See page 5.)
1. Microlepia proxima ? (Blume.) Caudex creeping tomentose, of the thickness of a man's finger, stipites scaleless, sub-glabrous
shining h a foot long ; fronds tri-pinnate, lanceolate, or deltoid-lanceolate, sub-glabrous, sparingly pilose on the veins beneath, 2-3 feet
long, rachis slightly scabrous ; piunæ (and pinnules) approximate lanceolate paudato-acurainate, alternate ; pinnules pinnatifid or a t the
b.ose pinnate, lobes falcato-trapezioid, acute or obtuse, crenato dentate. Sori a little within the margin. Involucres, cup-shaped. I'hivaites
En. Cey. Pl.— Bl. En. Plant Jav. 2. p. 238. Hook. Sp. Fil. Ì. 183 ?
Ceylon. (C. P. 3827-) Oova district iu the Central Province.
PLATE No. CCLIV.
M i c r o l e p ia (c o n tin u e d ).
3. Microlepia strigosa. (Moore.) Fronds tall, lanceolate, bi-pinnate, stipes elongated, rachis and veins pubescenti-hispid,
p r im a ry pinnæ petiolate, lanceolate acuminate, secondary (or pinnules) mostly petiolulate, sub-dimidiato-ovate, obtuse pinnatifid, chiefly ou
tbe upper edge, lower lobes obovate deep, the rest short, all of them angulato-dentate, veins pinnated, furnUhed with a few long scattered
hairs both above and beneath (the remaining surface of the frond beneath being sometimes furnished with numerous small hairs, or sometimes
glabrous as is the upper surface), involucres hairy, small half cup-shaped. Hook. Dicksonia strigosa. Sw. DavalUa Khasiyana.
Hook. Sp. Fil. i. 173. Microlepia cristata. J . Sm. E n . Fil. Philipp.
Ceylon. (C. P. 1386.)
Cholcampatty Hills (Tinnevelly district) abundant, at an elevation of 5,000 feet, (only lately detected in the Madras Presidency.)
PLATE No. CCLV.
3. Microlepia hirta. (Kaulf.) Tall, fronds erect, rigid ovato-lanceolate, much and gradually acuminate, rather glossy, tri-pinnate,
pinnules approximate, rhombeo-lanceolate, sub-dimidiate, acute decurrent, upper ones coadúnate, all of them inciso-pinnatifid, segments
acute, sori sm.oU on the inner margin in the sinus of a lobe, involucres half cup-shaped, veins prominent and hairy, especially beneath,
racbis hispido-tomentose. Hook. Davallia h h ta . Kaulf. En. Fil. p. 223. Dicksonia KauKussiana. Gaud, in Freyc. Voy. Bot. p. 368.
Davallia villosa. Don. {Sprengel.)
Ceylon. (C, P . 3272.)
Malabar, Manantoddy, and the slopes of the Brumaghenies. I have long had this fern iu my herbarium, but until I received a
specimen of it from Mr. Thwaites as an authentic spec, of M. hirta, I had always considered it only as a variety of M. polypodioides,
(Don.,) plate XV of this work. I have given a figure of it in case it should be distinct, but I still suspect it is only a variety of polypodioides.
I have lately collected on the Courtallum Hills (Tinnevelly), what I take to be a third variety: it is very nearly allied to the
Ceylon and Malabar M. hirta, but is more delicate—the secondary pinnules are narrower, the involucres are quite glabrous, and the fronds
nearly so.
PLATE No. CCLVI.
Note.— Davallia {Microlepia) inoequalis, (Kunze), recorded as a Ceylon fern, is probably the same as M. hirta.
P E R A X E ilE iE .
{d.) Vdns free.
* * Involucres smile.
DiacALPE. B lum e . E n u m . P I. J a v . 241.
(Aspidii sp. Wallich ;—Physeniatii sp. Kxinze ;—Cystopteridis sp. Presl. ;—Cyathese sp, Mettenius)
Sori involúcrate globose, the receptacles punctiform, medial on the anterior lower veuules. Involucre firm, ;
sub-coriaceous, sessile attached to a small point globose, entire, a t length bursting and splitting irregularly from the top. Veins simple,
forked, or (in tho secondary pinnules) pinuate, vemiles simple free.
Fronds decompound, herbaceous. Ehizome short. The chief peculiarity in this genus is the hard globose, entirely closed
involucre, which a t length bursts open h-regiüarly, and is affixed by a small point of contact. (Moore).
1. Diacalpe aspidioides. (Bl.) 2-4 feet higb, stipes long, clothed below with very large, broad opaque, brown, membranaceous
scales ; fronds tvi-piunate, primary piunæ often nearly sessile ; main and partial racbis frequently beset with copious short setose scales,
especially beneath, sometimes with long crinite deciduous scales which also appear on the veins above, pinnules sub-membranaceous,
oblong-cuneate, pinnatifido-lobate, more or less decm-rent, so that the rachis and ultimate pinnæ are generally winged, veius dark colored,
not reaching to the margin.
Ceylon. (C. P. 3282.)