FERNS OF NATAL. 
37 
the apex, edge entire, thickened and cartilaginous; texture coriaceous; 
both sides naked ; fertile fronds much narrower than the barren ones, but 
barren ones by far the most numerous. It is found hanging from rocks 
in crowded masses, in the Midland districts. 
A. hybridum. 
Rhizome woody, the scales dense, £ to ^ in. long, linear, crisped, dark 
chestnut brown ; stipes subtufted 6—9 in. long, firm, erect, with scattered, 
squarrose linear dark scales; barren frond 6 — 12 in. long, 14—2 in broad, 
the point acuminate, the base rather rounded ; texture subcoriaecous ; 
both sides naked except the midrib beneath, the edge ciliated with linear 
subulate scales; veins immersed, usually once forked ; fertile frond much 
smaller than the others. 
Found in the Midland districts at from 3 to 5,000 feet elevation. 
A. Aubertii. 
Rhizome woody, short creeping, the scales dense, linear, bright brown; 
stipes of barren frond 1 — 6 in: long, clothed with squarrose linear browu 
scales ; barren frond 1 ft. or more long, 4 to 1 in. broad, the point acute, 
lower part narrowed gradually, the edge entire or subrepand ; texture thin, 
midrib and edge slightly ciliated with scales like those of the stem ; veins 
fine, conspicuous, usually simple, 1 line apart ; fertile frond*2 — 3 in. long, 
£ to f broad, narrowed suddenly at the base, the stem 6 — 9 in. long. On 
damp rocks and fallen trees in the Midland districts, and on Little 
Noodsberg. 
A. spathulatum. 
Stipes densely tufted 1 — 2 in. long, firm, erect, clothed wdth soft spread- 
ing, brown fibrillose scales, barren frond |---4 in. long, £ — £ in. broad, 
obovate-spathulate, the point blunt, the base tapering narrowly or gradually; 
texture coriaceous; both sides scattered over, and the edge usually densely 
ciliated with small linear subulate reddish brown scales ; veins hidden ; 
fertile fronds smaller than the other, and the stem longer. On moist rocks 
open to the South with 4 to 5,000 feet elevation. This fern, and the two 
preceeding we have not met with, and the descriptions have been copied 
from the “ Synopsis Filiciim.” 
Stenochljena, 
(Ste)ios, narrow ; chlana , covering, from its rudimentary indusium). 
Barren fronds pinnate. 
A. tenuifolium. 
This fern is the one which is found climbing trees, generally Water boorn 
trees in wet or or marshy places near the coast, the rhizome is woody and 
wide creeping ; the barren frond simply pinnate, and sometimes 6 feet 
long, and 12 to 18 in. broad, the pinnae 6—12 in. long, f — in. broad, 
oblong, the point acute, the edge serrate, a gland at the upper side near 
the base ; the fertile fronds are bipinnate, on long stems ; pinnae and 
pinnules contracted, and by these features may be distinguished from all 
others of the genus. It is confin°d to the coast, its rhizomes sometimes 
almost encircling the trees upon which it grows, its fronds are often 
produced at 20 or 30 feet from the ground, the fertile fronds are only to be 
found about January or February. 
Chrysodium, 
(• Ghrysos , gold). 
Fronds pinnate, veins anastomosing. 
