128 23. LONCHITIS. 24. hypolepis. 



2 in. br., their segm. cut down to the rachis below, witli oblong toothed lower 

 lobes ; texture coriaceous. — Hk. Sp. 2. p. 54. t. 77. B. 



Hab. Mauritius. 



Gen. 23. Lonchitis, Linn. 



Sori marginal, placed in the sinuses of the frond, more or less distinctly 

 reniform but often considerably elongated. InvoL the same shape as the sorus 

 and covering it, membranous in texture, formed from the reflexed margin. 

 Tab. II. f. 23. United by Mettenius with Pteris, from which it differs only by the 

 position of the sori. 



1. L. pubescens, Willd. ; st. 1-2 ft. 1., strong, erect, densely clothed with 

 woolly pubescence ; fr. 2-4 ft. 1., deltoid, tripinnatifid, cut down to the rachis 

 except towards the apex ; lower pinnce sometimes 12-18 in. 1., 9-12 in. br. ; 

 pinnl. lanceolate, cut down nearly to the rachis below, with blunt, oblong, 

 sinuated segm.; rachis and under surface, especially the midrib, tomentose ; 

 veins copiously anastomosing into irregular hexagonal areolae ; sori placed round 

 the main sinuses of the pinnules and in two or three of the hollows of the 

 segments on each si^e.—Hk. Sp, 2. p. 56. — j3, L. glabra, Bory ; fr. thinner in 

 texture and less hairy. — Hk. Sp. 2. p. 57. L. natalensis, Hk. Sp. 2. p. 57- 

 t. 89. B. 



Hab. Mauritius, Bourbon, Jobanna Island, Seychelles, Natal, Cape Colony, and in 

 West Tropical Africa on the Cameroon Mountains and the islands of Fernando Po and 

 St. Thomas. — I cannot point out any character by which the South American plant, 

 gathered in the Caraccas by Linden {L. Lindeniana, Hook.), may be distinguished ; and 

 that from Madagascar {L. madagascariensis, Hook.) only differs by having the lower 

 segments of the pinnules distinctly separated, or even stalked, bluntly rounded at the 

 point, and scarcely at all lobed. The venation is identical in all the forms. L. aurita, L., 

 taken up from Plumier, is no doubt this, figured with a muricated stem by mistake. 



2. L. occidentalis, Baker ; st. 1-2 ft. 1., strong, erect, naked ; fr. 2-4 ft. 1., 

 deltoid, tripinnatifid, cut down to the rachis except very near the apex ; lower 

 pinnae 12-18 in. 1., 9 in. br., lanceolate-deltoid ; pinnl. lanceolate, cut down 

 below about three-quarters of the way to the rachis into blunt oblong lobes ; 

 rachis and both surfaces naked ; main vei7is forked at a broad angle towards the 

 apex, but only anastomosing rarely, and the lowest vein from the midribs of the 

 lobes sometimes meeting so as to form a costal arch ; sori reniform, placed in the 

 sinuses at the base or along the margin of the ultimate lobes. 



Hab. Gathered by Dr. Welwitsch in Angola (No. 132), by Barter at Fernando Po, and 

 by Gustave Mann, at an elevation of 4,000 ft., on the Cameroon Mountains. The naked 

 surfaces and rachis and only casually anastomosing venation will distinguish this clearly 

 from the preceding, and the lateral sinuses of the lobes in which the sori are placed are 

 not nearly so distinct, and in the lower lobes of the pinnule there is often no sorus at 

 the base. 



Gkn. 24. Hypolepis, Bemh. 



Sori marginal, placed usually in the sinuses of the frond, small, subglobose, 

 uniform, distinct. Invol. the same shape as the sorus and covering it, mem- 

 branous in texture, formed out of the reflexed margin. This genus seems only 

 intelligible as distinct when restricted to those species which have equal roundish sori 

 placed in the sinuses of the ultimate divisions of the frond, in this sense it is 

 employed here, lohich excludes several pAants placed under it in the Species Filicum. 

 Tab. II. f. 24. 



