AN ENUMERATION 



OF THE 



SOUTH AFRICAN" FERNS. 



SYNOPSIS OF SOUTH AFRICAN GENERA OF 



FERNS. 



The classification adopted in the following description ia 

 mainly that established by Professor Presl, in his admirable 

 '' Tentamen Pteridographiai/' published in 1836, and fol- 

 lowed by Sir Wm. Hooker, in his exquisitely illustrated 

 " Genera Filicum," published in 1842. 



The latter author, in his subsequent, more detailed, work, 

 commenced in 1846, under the title of " Species Filicum,'* 

 has somewhat modified Presl's arrangement, and other later 

 authors have introduced more extensive changes ; but as none 

 of these have been generally accepted, and as Sir Wm. 

 Hooker's work on the species of Ferns is still incomplete, it 

 has been deemed preferable to adhere generally to the 

 classification of Presl. 



This author excludes from the order of Ferns (Filices) the 

 group Hymenophylleffi of Endlicher, containing the two genera 

 of Hymenophyllum and Trichomanes, which Sir William 

 Hooker has restored, placing them between the tribes Dick- 

 soniacejE Pr., and Davalliaceai Pr. He also excludes the order 

 of Lycopodiacess, and others akin to, but not comprised in, 

 the order of " Filices." The same arrangement will be 

 adopted in the following synopsis. 



Presl admitted two sub-orders, established by Bernhardi, 

 dependent upon the character of the elastic ring surrounding 

 the capsules (sporangia), viz., Helicogyrata;, having an eccen- 

 tric ring, and Cathetogyrata3, having a marginal ring seldom 

 complete. The former embraces only the first two tribes of 

 the order. The distinction cannot easily be detected without 

 a magnifying glass, and need not be attended to in a study of 

 the Ferns of South Africa. 



