12 
FERNS OF NATAL. 
edge, and at the base narrowed suddenly into a winged petiole, the lower oM 
nearly straight, and quite entire ; texture herbaceous ; raclus green, flaccid ; orm 
the lowest side vein forked ; sori 1-3 oblong. Hab. : — Moist rocks tinder busid 
Great Noodsberg ; Field’s Hill. 
46. A. Trichomanes, L. (Maidenhair spleenwort) ; st. densely tufted, 1-4 it,] 
1., naked glossy, chesnut-browu, polished ; fr. 6-12 in. 1., in. or rather moW 
br., with 15-30 opposite pairs of sessile horizontal pinna; which are k-g in. b)M 
l|-2 lin. deep, the edge slightly crenate, the two sides unequal, the upper oil 
the broadest, and narrowed suddenly at the base ; texture subeoriaeeous ; reii.fl 
pinnate, inconspicuous ; rachis polished like the stem ; sori linear-oblong, 3-1 
in. on each side of the midrib. Hab. : — Small bushy ravines, Mooi Hirer. 
47. A, monanthemum, Linn. ; st. densely tufted, 3-6 in. 1., naked, polishetl 
cliesnut-brown ; fr. 12-18 in. 1., £*1 in. br., with twenty to forty horizontal 
sessile subdimidiate pinnae on each side, which are §-1 in. 1., { in. deep, till 
upper side crenate, suddenly narrowed at the base, often distinctly auricled, till 
lower more or less distinctly cut away in a straight or, in the lower pinna;, del 
curved line ; texture subeoriaeeous ; veins flabellate ; sori linear-oblong, usualll 
one or two, parallel with the lower edge of the pinna;. Hab. : — Beside streamlets! 
in bush, common from Town Hill to Drakensberg. 
48. A. ebeneum. Ait. ; st. tufted, 3-6 in. 1., cliesnut-brown, polished, nearly! 
naked ; fr. 12-18 in. 1., 2-3 in. br., linear-lanceolate, with twenty to forty sessile! 
horizontal or subfalcato pinna; on each side, which are 1 in. or more 1., g in. oil 
rather more br., the point'acute or blunt ish, the edge inciso-serrate, but some-] 
tunes very faintly so, the base liastately auricled on one or both sides, often] 
cordate ; texture herbaceous ; veins fine and close, once or twice forked ; rachis 
cliesnut-brown and bright polished ; sori often ten to twelve on each side, oblong, 
short. Ilab. : — In Bush, Mooi River. 
49. A. erect am, Bory. ; st. tufted, 2-4 in. 1., firm, nearly naked, grey or 
ebeneous ; fr. 6-18 in. 1. 11-2 in. br., narrowly lanceolate-oblong, with twenty to I 
thirty horizontal pinna; on each side, which arc 1-li in. 1., £-£ in. br., bluntish I 
or acute at the point, more or less deeply inciso-crenate throughout, the two 
sides unequal, the upper one at the base narrowed suddenly at about a right 
angle, the lower one obliquely truncate ; lower pinna; often deflexed ; texture 
herbaceous ; rachis firm, greyish ; veins simple or once forked ; sori falling short 
of both edge and midrib. (A. lunulatwm, Sw.) Hab. : — Ravines, Umbilo ; 
Inanda ; Noodsberg ; Ivrantzkop ; Town Hill, Maritzburg ; Nottingham ; and 
Catlikin. 
N.B. — Four well-marked varieties of this fern in the colony, including — A. 
harpeodes, Kze, and A. lolalum, P. and R. 
50. A. Prionitis, Kunze ; st. tufted, 6-12 in. 1., strong, erect, greyish ; fr. 1-2 
ft. 1., 6-9 in. br., with eight to twelve stalked piiuiec on each side, which are 4-6 
in. 1., l-lf in. br., the point acute or acuminate, the edge sharply toothed 
throughout, the upper side narrowed suddenly, and the lower obliquely truncate 
