FERN'S OF NATAL. 
li 
Section Eu-Cheilanthes. 
lndusia confluent. 
C hi r t«. 
A very elegant tufted fern, differing much both in size and general 
appearance according to the situation in which it is found. In favorable 
situations, we have found the fronds 2 ft. or more long, including the 
stipes. It is tripinnate, with oblong segments; and the whole plant is 
densely hairy. In fine specimens the sori, becoming confluent, appear 
almost continuous round the whole margin of the segment. It is com- 
mon throughout the Colony. 
C. multifida , 
(m itlt us many, fissus cleft). 
Totally destitute of the hairs with which the last species is so plentifully 
clothed, it is easily distinguished from it. The stipes is long, equalling or 
exceeding the length of the frond, whhicli is usually triangular in general 
outline, and tripinnate; the stipes, rachis and sometimes the costas are 
brown and polished; and the sori are round, distinct, sometimes, but not 
often confluent. It is found in crevices of bush-clad rocks, and throughout 
the summer good specimens may be got, but as the dry season approaches 
the fronds wither,. and the plant appears as if dead, but when the spring 
rains fall it soon puts forth new fronds and grows vigorously. — Since 
writing the above we have received from Rev. J Buchanan, a specimen 
of a. fern gathered near Newcastle, which he believes to be C.induta. It 
differs from C. multifida , apparently only by having a creeping rhizome. 
Section Adiantopsis. 
(Adiantum, maiden-hair fern ; apsis appearance), 
lndusia distinct. 
C. p ter oides. 
St. 6-12 in. long, strong, erect, polished, dark chestnut brown, naked ; 
fr. 12-18 in. long 6-9 in. broad, deltoid, tripinnate, upper part simply pin- 
nate, lower with several opposite pairs of wiry, erecto-patent branches, 
growing gradually larger downwards, the lowest often again branched; 
segment £ - £ in. long, £ - f broad, oblong, entire, bluntly rounded at both 
ends, sessile; texture subeoriaceous ; rachis polished, naked, both surfaces 
naked; sori small, roundish, distinct but contiguous. 
C. Capensis. 
St. tufted, erect, 4-6 in. long, naked, dark chestnut brown ; frond 4-6 in. 
long, 3-4 in. broad, ovate, deltoid, tripinnatifid ; lower pinnae much larger 
than the others, ovate, bluutish, 1£ in. long, £ in. broad, cut down below to 
a narrowly winged rachis into oblong, blunt, nearly entire segments 3 to 4 
lines long, 2 lines broad ; texture herbaceous, rachis polished, chestnut 
brown; under surface naked, bright green; sori small, placed all round 
the edge of the segments ; involucre ciliated. 
PELL/EA, 
( pellus , dark coloured, in allusion to the dusky color of the fronds). 
A genus nearly related to Pteris from which it has been separated on 
account of the difference in their receptacles. In Pteris the receptacle 
is continuous, and connects the veins round the margin of the frond, while 
in Pellcea it is terminal on the veins, each one being distinct from its 
neighbour, but generally running together and forming a more or less 
laroad band round the margin of the frond. The genus contains upwards 
