18 
FERNS OF NATAL. 
creeping ; st. about 1 ft. 1., slender, stramineous ; from 1-2 ft. 1., 4-6 in. br. ; 
pinnae spreading, 2-3 in. 1., £ in. br., cut down very nearly to the racliis into 
entire spreading linear-oblong lobes, those of the barren frond the broadest ; 
lower piunte equalling the others ; upper veinlets simple, lower ones forked ; 
texture, herbaceous ; rachis and both sides naked ; sori small, not confluent, in 
rows near the recurved edge. Hab. : — Damp places near the Camp, Durban ; 
and frequent in open marshy places over the colony. 
78. JY. athamanticum, Hk. ; st. tufted, stout, stramineous, 1 ft. long, clothed 
at the base with large coucolorous linear scales ; fr. 1-2 ft. 1., 6-9 in. br., oblong- 
lanceolate, pinna> imbricated, the lower ones 4-6 in. 1., 2-3 in. br., the piunl. 
cat down to the rachis below into blunt oblong-rliomboidal lobes ; texture sub- 
coriaceous ; colour pale-green, the stramineous rachis and both sides naked ; 
veinlets immersed, copiously pinnate in the lower lobes; sori close to the midrib; 
invol. large, persistent. TnJcomolcomo of the natives ; vermifuge. Ilab. : 
Hills near Camperdown ; Pine Town ; Town Hill, Maritzburg ; Ant-bear holes 
generally. 
79. N. incequale, Hk. ; st. 1 ft. or more 1., with a dense tuft of reddish-brown 
lanceolate scales at the base and a few upwards ; fr. 1-2 ft. 1., 8-12 in. br., ovate- 1 
deltoid ; lower pinnae rather shorter and broader than the next, which are 6-8 in. I 
1., 2-3 in. br. ; piunl. lanceolate, cut down nearly to the rachis into oblong I 
spinoso-serrated segm. ; texture herbaceous ; colour dark-green ; racliises aud both I 
surfaces nearly naked ; sori in two rows near the midribs; invol. firm, naked. I 
(Lastrea inaiqualis, Presl.) Hab. : — Ravines, Kranz Xloof ; Inanda, Kranz* 
Kop ; Zwaartkop ; Town Hill Bush ; and in moist places over the colony. 
80. iY. catopteron, Hk. ; st. 3-4 ft. 1., pubescent ; fr. 4-6 ft, 1., 2-3 ft. br. 
lower pinna; 12-18 in. 1., oblong-lanceolate, with close lanceolate pinnl. or sub 
deltoid, with some of the pinnl. of the lower side compound ; segm. oblong 
bluntish, about i in. 1., ^ in. br., more or less deeply piunatifid ; texture her 
baceous ; racliises and both surfaces villose ; veinlets forked ; sori copious 
invol. firm. ( Lastrea catoptera, P. and R.) Hab. : — Near streamlets, iu bush I 
Inanda ; Koodsberg ; Richmond ; and Town Hill. 
st. 12-18 in. 1., brownish-naked : fr. 2 ft. or more 1. 
i 
81. N. unitum, R. Br 
6-8 in. br. ; pinnae 4-5 in. 1., t in br., the edge cut from a third to halfwa; 
down into spreading, triangular, sharp-pointed lobes ; lower pinna; not dwind 
ling down ; texture coriaceous ; veins pinnate in the broad lobes, with 6-1 1 
veinlets on each side, with sori near the extremity, principally in tli( 
lobes ; caps, naked. Hab. : — Damp places, and near streams ; Noodsberg am 
the Coast. 
82. N. molle, Desv. ; st. tufted, 1 ft. or more 1. rather slender, doeiduousl 
hairy ; fr. 1-2 ft. 1. 8-12 in. br. ; pinnae spreading, 4-6 in. 1. J- in. br. cut abonlf 
halfway down to the midrib into scarcely falcate blunt lobes ; the lower pinudl 
distant and rather shorter than the others ; texture herbaceous ; rachis ami 
surfaces finely villose ; veins pinnate iu the lobes, with 6-8 veinlets on a side I 
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