FEBNS OF NATAL. 
* O 
pinnule, and are^repeate^y forked Tnd free^ t ?° m ^ base of the 
borne upon an oblong receptacle and’™, 7 ®’, tbe Son ar e oblong 
horse-shoe shaped, Attached by the centr^Mdfre? ind “ si " m which if 
pinnules are said to be dimidiate that il Vhl’i* *1 ,?° Uad the ed ge; the 
wanting, and in consequence of their beimr n t ° vve T r la f 18 almost or quite 
«re very liable to fall off L ^ i achi8 * V 
™TS" S ch ““ 8ed ' 11 is £ the 
aspidium, 
with a roundish indusium, but it has been of lntp lke Prmt ’ cov ered 
dmdea, and it now contains only those snecios Jbn™ co “ 8lderabl y sub- 
dorsal, and whose indusium is round entire and m 8 ? n , are round and 
We have in Natal 5 species, 4 belonging to the W , by tbe centre - 
free veins, the other to the Section Cmtomium tifh ^ P ? l y stlchum > with 
the lower anterior venules being free anTthe’re R t o T f mnate1 ^ forked, 
anastomosing. The genus contains !i„Tcn f an £ uIa i'ly and irregularly 
thG Se vr: ^a^om^sin^..^ ^^rta2 > . nS '" 
Veins anastomosing 
fthizome creeping 
Lobes without prickles, coriaceous, sori large 
Bipmnate, stipes tufted, teeth sharp ... . g . 
Tri- or quadri-pinnate Z « cales bla ^ 
falcL turn. 
pungens. 
Capense. 
aculeatum. 
luctuosum. 
aristatum. 
, „ , Section Polystichum, 
* 7 ^ Veins free. 
A. aculeatum. Prickly Shield Fern. 
* * . ( aculeus , a prickle) 
»tipi,r«"i.„Tr6Lf 2 7„ct u s “f„r'L:: ,b f “rrr^ dis, ™*=- »» 
scales, frond 1 to 2 ft. long 8 to ^ineW °h eS i c otbed with pale-brown 
Pinme close, lanceolate 4^0 6 ^ lonf /to lTn ’ h™ d lanceoIate ’ lower 
rhoraboidal, unequal sided, auricled at the l 4 1 d; pinnules ovate, 
sharp; texture Subcoriaceous SchL stra?^ /’ at the base ; ^th 
under surface slightly fibrillose • R „r ! ■ • f, d ’ ™ ore or less scal y ; 
the midrib than the edge. It is a coramnn p' n r P i y , m 2 rows nearer 
known as the Prickly Shield Fern We P - ant ’ and is generally 
called, luctuosum, also found in the unn^r d f . v f ,,et 3 r l whlcb ba s been 
specimen which we have, is densely clotJXd d . 8triCts ’ ^ hose racbis in the 
black scale,, hence we suppose the name, which signifies 
A. pungens, 
larger, ,„ d at ouee 
e~h side, which are oblong ovate li “? 
