'350 Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society. 



forms which are more or less intermediate are occasionally found. 

 The principal differences expressed in tabular form are : — 



Stangeria, sp. S. paradoxa (B.M., t. 5,121). 



Petiole and rachis grooved on Petiole and rachis terete. 



ventral face. 



Great majority of leaf-segments Apex of leaf-segment acuminate- 



with rounded or obtuse apices. acute. 



Margin of leaf- segment in great Margin usually flat and distinctly 



majority, entire and revolute. serrate. 



Upper margin of sporophyll Upper margin of sporophyll 



( $■ and 2 ) usually rounded. usually more or less acuminate. 



While the form characteristic of the open grass- veld is so distinct 

 from that of the forest that one would not hesitate to regard 

 them as different species, it must be admitted that the occasional 

 appearance of a form to some extent intermediate between the two 

 necessitates a fuller knowledge of both before a definite conclusion 

 can be arrived at. The form occurring on the open grass-veld of 

 East London and Kentani is usually known here as S. Katzeri 

 (Eegel), though neither the identification nor the claim of S. Katzeri 

 to rank as a species is, in my opinion, sufficiently established. Mr. 

 Medley Wood writes to me of plants which " I have frequently seen 

 in Zululand ... on the hillsides in quite open ground," and "the 

 only difference which I can see between them and S. paradoxa is 

 that the leaves, or some of them, are often slightly serrated, while 

 those of plants growing in the shade are entire " — which is the re- 

 verse of our experience further south. The current statement that 

 Stangeria is a monotypic genus can only be proved or disproved by 

 the study of a large number of specimens from many different 

 localities. 



The forest-form of S. paradoxa, as is well known, was first 

 described from Natal specimens. It is also recorded from East 

 Pondoland (T. B. Sim, 2,490!), and occurs as far south as the 

 Manubi Forest {Pegler, 1,247 !), from which locality I have received 

 an exceedingly interesting collection of male cones in various stages 

 of development kindly obtained for me by Mr. S. Allen, of the Manubi 

 Forest Station. These will form the subject of a separate paper. 



The following remarks refer to plants growing on the open veld 

 near East London. The stem is entirely subterranean and appears 

 to branch profusely. Mr. Eattray has kindly been at the trouble 

 to excavate a number of specimens, and finds that branching occurs 

 quite commonly. The specimen figured (Plate VIII., fig. 3), which 



