n LEG II NUM. 5, 



rarely interrupted, involucres nienibranaccous brown. — 131. 

 australe, Linn. Mant. p. 1.30. TIninh. Fl. (Uij). p. /•34. (S'w. 

 8yii. Fil. p. 114. Schkh. Fil. p. 10.'}. t. 110 d. VVilhl. Sp. 

 PI. V. p. 410. Klfs. in Limi(ca, vi. p. 185. Mctfcn. Fil. 

 Hort. Bot. Lips. p. G3. t. 3. /. 7 (pinna). Loniaria australis, 

 Liyik, Fil. Hort. Berol. 75. L. pumila, Klfs. Enum. p, 151. 

 Kze. in Linncea, x. p. 508. Pnppe and A'aivs. En. Fil. Cap. 

 p. 29. Mcsothema australe, Fr. Epimel. Bot. p. 111. 



Ilah. Tliroiighoiit the Cape Colony, from about Cajie Town to Macalisberg 

 {Sanderson) and Natal, in tlie East. Island of St. Paul, Indian Ocean, lat. 

 ."^8° 43' 8 S., M'Gillivray and Milne. Bourbon {Parii Mm. Nat. Hist, in Ileib. 

 No.tfr.). Tristan d'Acunha, Carmichael, and M'Gillivray and Milne, in Voy. of 

 II. M.S. Herald.— It is not with entire satisfaction that I maintain the present 

 species {Bl. ausfrale) and the following {HI. haslaium) as distinct. No donht 

 here, as in many other instances, the fact of a species long considered peculiar 

 to the Cape had its influence on the author of the latter species, whose remarks 

 mider it are, " Varians s])ecies JUechno australi similis, tamen diversa : frondibus 

 junioribus subtus ferrugineo-villosis, tandem subhirtis; aurieulis nmlto inajoribus, 

 soris interruptis punctiformibus :" — all characters really of trilling moment, even 

 if they were constant. One character, and one alone, for distinguishing the 

 sjjecics, I find in the position of the sori, best seen however in the young state ; 

 in Bl. australe near the costa (but not so close as represented in Schkuhr's 

 figure, 1. c, letter c.) ; in Bl. hastatum, nearer the margin than the costa, as well 

 represented by Kunze in his Snppl. to Schkuhr, 1. c. ; and yet I do not find that 

 authors adopt this as a specific mark. Kaulfuss observes, " In Bleclnio {frari- 

 neo, \\.) australi, L., et hastatn, Klfs., fructificationes a costa sunt rcmotie, in 

 reliquis autem costne adproximata;." The accurate IMettenius liowever says of 

 both, " Sori inter costam et marginem medii." If this mark should fail, I do not 

 see how the two species can be retained. 



24. Bl. hastatum, Klfs. ; caudex generally short thick 

 rarely repent paleaceous, stipes 4-6 inches long, fronds 

 1-1^ foot nearly uniform lanceolate acuminate coriaceous 

 pinnate, pinnae more or less distant, younger ones pubes- 

 cent, sterile ones oblong-lanceolate cordato-hastate sul)- 

 falcate lowest ones sulitriangular, fertile pinnaj narrower 

 lanceolato-acuminate falcate mucronate with more distinct 

 auricles at the base, sori between the costa and margin but 

 nearer to the latter continuous or very frequently interrupted 

 and then resembling those of Doodia. — Blechnum hastatum, 

 Klfs. En. Fil. p. IGl. Kunze, in Linncea, ix. p. GO. Hook, 

 et Am. Bot. of Beech. Voy. p. 52. Lomaria hastata, Kze. in 

 Schkh. Fil. Suppl. p. 110. t. 55. f. 1 {excellent). Metten. 

 Fil. Hort. Bot. Lips. p. 6ii. PhUippi, Herb. Chil. n. 21.3, 387 

 et 508. Blechnum triloljum, Pr. Reliq. Hank. i. p. 50. t. 9. 

 /. 2. Hook, et Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 192. Blechnum auriculatum, 

 Cav. Prcel. 180P Stv. Syn. Fil. p. 114? Willd. Sp. PI. v. 

 p. 412? Lomaria blcchnoides, Jiory, in Duperrey, Voy. p. 



VOL. Tll. I 



