268 Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society. 



rank. New localities have been noted, extending somewhat the 

 range of many other species, and admitting them into regions where 

 they were formerly unrecorded, but otherwise I have no alteration 

 to make in regard to that area. 



But with regard to the Orange Eiver Colony, Transvaal, and 

 Ehodesia the case is different. The development and settlement of 

 these colonies, and the more easy access to them by rail, has given 

 opportunity for botanical collecting which did not previously exist, 

 and though their fern floras are still by no means thoroughly known, 

 the collections in hand yield data worth record as a guide to col- 

 lectors, and a further contribution toward a more complete list than 

 is yet possible. It is probable also that many specimens collected 

 in these upper colonies, especially during the Boer War, found their 

 way to Europe, and that the material there tells more than does that 

 which I have seen. 



The geographical area dealt with in "The Ferns of South Africa " 

 was nominally that part of continental Africa lying south of the 

 tropic of Capricorn. This included the Transvaal but only part of 

 Ehodesia, and the latter was only represented by bare lists of about 

 30 species. 



Eailway development and present political boundaries, as well as 

 the United South Africa of the future, all render it desirable that 

 South Africa, as a fern district, should be extended northward so as 

 to include the whole of Ehodesia as well as the adjacent Portuguese 

 country south of the Zambesi. From the latter, which is doubtless 

 rich in ferns, I have as yet no specimens or records, and in this 

 respect the present list is certainly incomplete. Species probably 

 belonging to that area and northward extend into Ehodesia and the 

 Transvaal, and also into Natal, but their presence in Portuguese 

 country can only be assumed. The Transvaal contains two distinct 

 climatic conditions, the one dry and cold, corresponding in its fern 

 flora with the Orange Eiver Colony and Upper Karroo, while the 

 other is moist and warm and includes tropical species, some of which 

 do not extend further south. 



Ehodesia has also two climates, the dry corresponding with that 

 of the Transvaal and Bechuanaland, the other the moist, warm 

 climate which the coastward portions of the Transvaal and Natal 

 enjoy, and which also extends northward, introducing in Zambesia 

 many tropical species of which the distribution there and northward 

 is not yet definitely ascertained. 



The Orange Eiver Colony is hardly a fern country, being mostly 

 dry and unfavourable, but in the north-eastern portion, and espe- 

 cially where it meets Natal and Basutoland, there are fern-kloofs 



