208 



MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN [Vol. 8, No. 3 



L. nigrescens Moore should be treated as a "new name" for Davallia nigres- 

 cens Hook, and not a "new combination* 1 since the epithet "nigrescens" was 

 employed by Hooker in an illegitimate combination. 



Loxoscaphe theciferum (H.B.K.) Moore var. concinna (Schrad.) C.Chr. Dansk Bot. 

 Ark. 7: 104. 1932. 



North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, upper branches of trees in juniper forest, 

 2250 m., Aug. 11, 1946, 17155*. Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, epiphytic on a 

 tree overhanging stream, 30 cm. high, leaves pale green, fleshy, 1400 m., May 

 28, 1946, 16048. Cholo District: Cholo Mountain, upper branches of rain-forest 

 canopy trees, 1300 m., Sept. 24, 1946, 17783. Tropical and South Africa, Mas- 

 carenes. Typical L. thecifera is found in tropical America. 



POLYPODIACEAE 



Polypodium excavatum Bory ex Willd. Sp. PL 5: 158. 1810. 

 Pleopeltis excavata (Bory ex Willd.) Moore, Ind. Fil. 347. 1862. 



Lepisorus excavatus (Bory ex Willd.) Ching, Bull. Fan Mem. Inst. Biol. Bot. 4: 68. 1933. 



Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, occasional on trunks of trees in riverine rain- 

 forest, rhizome creeping, leaves few, pale, more or less fleshy, 1400 m., May 28, 

 1946, 16060. Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, common epi- 

 phyte in rain-forest, leaves usually with undulate margins, 1400 m., May 28, 1946, 

 16437. Common. Tropical and South Africa, Mascarenes, with related forms in 

 Asia. 



Polypodium lanceolatum L. Sp. PL 1082. 1753. 



Pleopeltis lanceolata (L.) Kaulf. Enum. Fil. 245. 1824. 



North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, upper branches of trees in juniper forest, 

 2250 m., Aug. 11, 1946, 17156*; ibid., mossy branches of shrubs on banks of a 

 grassland stream, leaves coriaceous, 2300 m., Aug. 14, 1946, 17227. Kota-kota 

 District: Nchisi Mountain, on dry rocks in Brachystegia woodland, leaves yel- 

 lowish, 1600 m., July 31, 1946, 17057. Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, creep- 

 ing on exposed trunks of rain-forest trees, 10-15 cm. high, leaves stiff fleshy, 

 much paler below than above, 1770 m., May 31, 1946, 16119A. Mlanje District: 

 Mlanje Mountain, common low epiphyte in forest, 15-25 cm. high, 1820 m., July 5, 

 1946, 16678. Tropical and South Africa, Mascarenes, with related forms in tropical 

 America, India, Hawaii, etc. 



Polypodium oosorum Bak. in Henriq. Bol. Soc. Brot. 4: 154, 1887. 



Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, epiphytic near ground in 

 primary forest, 1890 m., July 12, 1946, 16811; ibid., locally gregarious on shaded 

 mossy rocks in stream bed, 2-4 cm. high, 1820 m., July 5, 1946, 16670. San 

 Thome, Cameroons, Madagascar. 



Polypodium rigescens Bory ex Willd. Sp. PL 5: 183. 1810. 



North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, epiphytic in an exposed situation, 2300 

 m., Aug. .14, 1946, 17228*; ibid., epiphytic in montane forest, 15-25 cm. high, 

 2250 m., Aug. 16, 1946, 17242; ibid., 2350 m., Aug. 17, 1946, 17284; ibid., 2350 

 m., Aug. 18, 1946, 17326*. Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, 

 in mass on a shaded rock face on grassland, 5-8 cm. high, rhizome shortly creep- 

 ing, 2200 m., July 3, 1946, 16655. Tropical Africa, Reunion, tropical America. 



Polypodium villosissimum Hook. Sp. Fil. 4: 197. 1862. 



Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, scattered tufts on mossy 

 upper branches of a Widdringtonia tree, 5-10 cm. high, 1890 m., June 30, 1946, 

 16549. Sierra Leone, Fernando Po, San Thome. The only other tropical East 

 African specimen seen is Stolz 883 from Kyimbila District. 



