2G 
FERNS OE NATAL. 
Gen, 70. — Marattia, Sm. 
Caps, sessile or stalked, 4-12 concrete in boat-shaped synangia, which consist of 
two opposite rows of capsules, and open by slits down then- inner faces. 
118. M. fraxinea, Smith ; st. 1-2 ft. 1., 1-H in. thick, smooth, deciduously 
scaly, and swollen in the lower part ; fr. 0-15 ft. 1., bipinnate or casually tripin- 
nate ; pinnae 1-2 ft. 1., often 1 ft. br. ; pinnl. oblong-lanceolate 4-6 in. 1., £-li 
in. br., the apex acuminate, the edge entire or serrulate, the base euneate or 
slightly rounded ; texture coriaceous ; surfaces naked ; veins simple or forked ; 
the rachis of the pinnae sometimes slightly winged ; synangia usually sub- 
marginal, in close rows, 1-1) lin. 1., the sides vertical, the receptacle linear, with 
6-12 caps, on each side. The Natal plant is the variety M. salicifolia, Schr- 
Hab. Ravines on the Great Noodsberg ; Inanda ; Town Hill ; Zwaartk'op ; 
Field’s Hill. 
Gen. 73. — Opiiioglossum, L. (Adder’s tongue). 
Caps, sessile, arranged in two rows so as to form a narrow close spike. 
119. O. reticulaium , L. ; rootstock not tuberous ; fr. 6-12 in. 1., the sterile 
division placed about the middle, 2-3 in. 1., 11-2 in. hr., with a distinct haft and 
distinctly cordate basal lobes, the point blunt or subacute ; texture thin, the 
veins distinct, usually no midrib ; fertile spike 1 in. or more 1., on a slender 
peduncle 2-4 in. 1., much overtopping the sterile segment. Hab. Cato’s Creek, 
Durban; in Natal Botanic Gardens ; Umbilo ; near Tongaat. 
120. 0. vuljatvm, L. (common adder’s tongue) ; rootstock not tuberous ; fr. 
6-9 in. 1., the sterile division generally placed about the middle, 2-4 in. 1., j-2 in* 
br., ovate or ovate-oblong without a distinct haft, texture stout ; the midrib 
usually indistinct ; fertile spike 1 in. or more 1., upon a peduncle 2-4 in. 1., and 
considerably overtopping the sterile division when the plant is fully mature. 
Hab. ; — On open slopes at Nottingham Bush. 
The following ferns mentioned in “ Synopsis Filicum,” and described in the 
present list as from Natal, are doubtful, as no dried specimen or living plant has 
been seen by the writer : — 
Hymenophyllum rarum. 
Pteris serrulate. 
Asplenium rhizophyllum. 
„ flaccidum. 
,, Dregeanum. 
Aspidium aristatum. 
Polypodium ensiformo. 
