BY D. H. CAMPBELL. 
77 
plant, it seems, had been examined by a well-known 
botanist, Raciborski, who, about ten years ago, called it 
Angiopteris Smithii. There is no record of where the plant 
came from, but it has been in the gardens for many years. 
As collections of plants are frequently sent from Borneo 
to Buitenzorg, it is extremely likely that the plant in 
question was sent from some part of Borneo ; but whether 
from Sarawak or, what is more likely, from Dutch Borneo, 
can never be ascertained ; so for the present, at least, the 
only known native localities for the plant are in Sarawak.* 
Another peculiar family is that of the Ophioglossacese— 
adder-tongue ferns. They are not common in Sarawak, 
and the prothallium is especially difficult to find, as it is 
subterranean and quite destitute of the green colour of 
other fern prothallia. 
The Ophioglossacese can be recognized at once by the 
characteristic fertile leaves. The sporangia are borne 
upon a sort of spike having usually a long stalk inserted 
at the base of the leaf-blade. The latter, in the genus 
Ophioglossum, is quite undivided, and not at all fern-like 
in appearance. In Helminthostachys the leaf-blade is 
palmately divided, and is in some respects not unlike 
the leaves of the Marattiacese. 
There is much reason for assuming that the Ophio- 
glossaceae and Marattiacese are really related, and that the 
Ophioglossacese are also very old types. There is, however, 
very little fossil evidence—due perhaps to the fact that the 
Ophioglossacese are soft fleshy plants, not fitted to leave 
well-preserved fossil remains. 
Most species of Ophioglossum are small terrestrial plants, 
sometimes only a couple of inches high, and seldom more 
than 6 to 8 inches. One species, however, 0. pendulum , is 
an epiphyte, and its long pendent fronds, sometimes 
forked, may be 4 or 5 ft. in length. 
* [In a letter dated October 9th, 1913, Professor Campbell writes: “ I 
am just now making a careful investigation of Macroglossum, and I find 
that the Sarawak form, while much resembling Raciborski’s Angiopteris 
Smithii , is quite distinct. The material of the Buitenzorg plant I showed 
Copeland was not mature, but when I came to examine it more carefully on 
my return here, I found so many differences that I am convinced that the 
two forms are specifically distinct. Apart from the fact that the sori of the 
Sarawak species contain more than twice as many sporangia, there are 
differences in the structure of the sporangia and the indusium, as well as 
more marked differences in the anatomy of the leaf—so I think it is safe to say 
that Copeland’s name will hold for your plant, while the other now becomes 
Macroglossum Smithii .”] — Ed, 
