NEFUHODIUM, § LASTUEA. 137 



spreading linear-subulate brown scales 2-3 lines long, frond 

 broad triangular-ovate 1-1 4 foot long coriaceo-menibrana- 

 ceous glabrous (excei)t on the secondary rachises and costcE, 

 which are downy) bipinnate, primary pinnoe petiolate G-9 

 inclies long 2-3 inches broad moderately acuminated, lowest 

 pair subopposite, pinnules sessile 1-1 i inch long oblong 

 acute deeply nearly to the rachis pinnatifid, segments approxi- 

 mate obtuse a little falcate entire, veinlets simple or forked, 

 sori 3-4 on each side the costule between it and the rachis, 

 involucres small membranaceous brown reniformi-cordate. 

 (Tab. CCLXVI.) — Aspidium oppositum, Kaulf. in Spreng. 

 Syst. Veget. iv. p. 108. Metten. Aspid. p.Wb. Lastrea, Pr, 



llab. Mauritius, Sieber, Si/n. Fit. n. 36. BourI)on {Meltcnlm). Cape of Good 

 Hope {Sprengel). — I have drawn up my character from Sieher's specimen, ?(. 36 

 of his ' Synops. Filicum,' from Mauritius, and which sufticienlly accords with Kaul- 

 fuss's character in Sprengel. Pappe and llawson do not acknowledge it as a Capo 

 species. Tlie firm, narrow, linear, paleaceous scales of the stii)es and main rachis 

 are remarkal>le ; their presence and the entire segments of the pinnules, and the 

 absence of long hairs, readily distinguish the species from N. caiopleron. 



130. N. (Lastrea) catopteron. Hook. ; stipes 3-4 feet long 

 dark-brown below, stramineous above destitute of scales, 

 frond ample 3 feet and more long subtriangulari-ovate firm- 

 membranaceous pubescenti-hirsute beneath and even villous 

 especially on the costules and veins tripinnate, primary piniue 

 petiolate oblong or broad-lanceolate acuminate all petiolate, 

 the lowest ones H-2 feet long, their secondary pinnae also 

 petiolate, pinnules sessile oblong 1-2 inches long obtuse or 

 subacuminate, the segments entire or more frequently deeply 

 and bluntly serrated or subpinnatifid or even again subpin- 

 nate, veinlets simple or rarely forked, sori rather small gene- 

 rally one to each of the lesser segments, involucres dark- 

 brown membranaceous cordato-reniform. — Aspidium, Kzi;. in 

 LlnncBa, x. p. 550 [who quotes •' A. odoratum, iiieh. FL Maurit. 

 nee inild."). Lastrea, Pappe and liawson. En. Fit. Cap. p. 1 2. 

 A. odoratum, Metten. Aspid. p. 115, who eonsiders it true 

 odoratum of Willd. Sp. PL v. p. 286. [Moore refers the A. 

 catopteron to A. lanuginosum, IVilld.) 



Hab. South Africa, chiefly in the eastern districts of the Cape Colony, Drege, 

 Bowie, Major Garden. Mauritius, Sieber, Syn. Fit. n. 48. West Tropical Africa : 

 Island of St. Thomas and Fernando Po, on Clarence Peak, alt. 5000 feet, G. Mann. 

 South of the line, Curror (pinnules large). — Var. glabra ; pinnules distant on 

 winged rachises. Fernando Po, G. Maun. Madagascar, Boivin. — Var. .' minor ; 

 pinnules thrice larger. Prince's Island, West Coast Tropical America, Barter, n. 

 1906. — I am a little doubtful about the last-mentioned tropical African localities, 

 hut we must allow for considerable variation, as in other Ferns. 



VOL. IV. T 



