126 
THE FERNS OF SOUTH AFRICA 
five inches wide, glabrous, pinnate ; pinnae separate, not over- 
lapping, one and a half to three inches long, one-quarter to 
half inch wide, the base wider and auricled on the upper side, 
the margin entire or slightly crenate, the point more or less 
acute ; sori sub-marginal. This and the next species are 
common in cultivation and known as “sword-ferns.” They 
vary somewhat according to conditions of growth, and though 
extremes differ they approach closely under certain circum- 
stances, and are then difficult to distinguish, especially from 
dried specimens. In my 1906 paper I doubted if both were 
South African. Since then I have seen a good many specimens 
and have changed that view, and I find that Baker includes 
both among the plants collected by Oates in Matabeleland, 
and also among the plants collected by Miss Gibbs at the 
Rain Forest, Victoria Falls. 
N. exaltata (Linn.). Schott, Gen. Fil. t. 3, 1834; C. Chr. Index , 454; 
Syn. Fil. 301. 
Polypodium exaltatum. Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. x. 2, 1326. 1759- 
Tropics and subtropics of America, Asia, Polynesia, and 
in Africa from Angola, Guinea Coast, Zambesia, and Mascarene 
Islands. A specimen in the Natal Government Herbarium, 
No. 7581, from Lower Umzimkulu, Natal, collected by 
Dr Dimock Brown in 1897, was presumably an escape, as 
no one else has found it in Natal, and that district is well 
known botanically. As the species is common in cultivation 
and very hardy, escape is easy. 
Rhodesia. — Ironmask Hill, Mazoe, 5000 ft (E. Eyles) ; Rain Forest, 
Victoria Falls (Allen, 1; Eyles, 1 16 ; Rogers, 5546; J. Sim; 
Engler, etc.). 
47. Nephrolepis cordifolia (Linn.) Presl. 
Plate 36. Nat. size. B Pinna, enlarged. C Tuber, nat. size. 
Crown sub-erect, with numerous long, wiry, or in places 
tuberous runners from which new plants arise. Tubers 
elliptical, one inch long, set with soft scales when young. 
Frond two to three feet long, one and a half to two inches 
wide mostly of equal width, pinnate, glabrous except the 
