THE FERNS OF SOUTH AFRICA 
1 68 
blunt point, cut uniformly to the broadly winged mid-rib into 
eight to twelve pairs of regular, close, bluntly oblong, simple 
pinnules, one line broad, one to three lines long; the lower 
pinnule on the upper side broader, sub-flabellate, 2-3-4-fid, 
or pinnatifid. Sori oblong on the upper side of the vein but 
not marginal; mid-rib, together with its wings, one line broad. 
Pinnae longest at the middle of the frond. Baker suggests 
that it may be a dareoid form of A. lunulatum , while Pappe 
and Rawson, and Wood remark on its growing in company 
with A. Dregeanum , to which it is closely related. Kunze 
mentions a form with falcate pinnae. 
Asplenium auriculatum (Th.). Kuhn, Fil.Afr. 97 ; C. Chr. Index , 102. 
Asplenium Thunbergii. Kze, Linn. 10, 517; Pappe and Rawson, 22; 
Hk. and Bkr, Syn. Fil. 223 ; Wood, Natal Ferns , 23 ; Sim, Ferns 
of South Africa , 1st ed., 157. 
Caenopteris auriculata. Thunb. Nov. Act. Petr op. 1791. 
Darea auriculata Willd. Schl. Adum. 32. 
Cape of Good Hope (Thunberg). 
Natal. — Near streamlets in bush, Great Noodsberg, Inanda, Maritz- 
burg (McKen); abundant at Umpumulo, 2000 to 3000 feet (Buch.); 
Ben vie (Marriott); Zwaartkop (T. R. Sim); Buccleuch (W. Leighton). 
Rhodesia. — Chirinda Forest, 3700 — 4000 ft (Swyn. 806); Chipetzana, 
4000 ft (Swyn. 807) ; Mt Pene, 7000 ft (Swyn. 6017). 
(Asplenium flaccidum Forst. 
Plate 60. Nat. size, b Fertile pinnule, enlarged. 
Crown erect, tufted, naked or almost so. Frond firmly 
coriaceous, glaucous, glabrous, one and a half feet long, 
including stipe of six inches. Pinnae six pairs, linear acu- 
minate, alternate, three to four inches long, one line broad 
at the sinuses and point, about four lines broad across the 
segments. Pinnules acute, one line broad and long, some- 
what decurrent. Terminal pinna four inches long, with longer 
pinnules and sori than the others ; lower pinnae barren, not 
pinnatifid, but waved at the margin. Rachis and stipe slightly 
winged, wing disappearing below. Sori short, marginal on 
the upper margin of the pinnules, opening outward. The 
above description, as well as our figure, are from Sanderson’s 
specimen in Herb. Gub. ; but the plant often grows stronger 
abroad, with fronds two to three feet long, and with numerous. 
