A Catalogue of the Ferns of Borneo and some of the adjacent Islands which have been recorded up to the present time.
The following list contains, I believe, all the Ferns that have been recorded from Borneo, the Sulu Archipelago, the Natunas, and a few small islands close to the Borneo Coast. It is probably very far from being a complete catalogue of all the members of this interesting family that exist in that region. The Ferns belonging to Borneo itself have been collected almost exclusively in the State of Sarawak, and the Territory of British North Borneo. These two countries together occupy about one third part only of the whole island, the remainder (with the exception of the small kingdom still held by the Sultan of Brunei) being in the possession of the Dutch Government. It is possible that in Dutch scientific publications a few species not mentioned here may have been recorded, but, if so, they have not come to my knowledge.
The large number of new species which have been found in recent years within a comparatively small area, chiefly by Signor Beccari, Mr. Burbidge, Mr. Charles Hose, Dr. G. D. Haviland and myself, leads to the belief that a rich harvest awaits the collector who shall hereafter visit the less known dis- tricts of Dutch Borneo. Of the 430 species and varieties con- tained in this list, 114 were first found in Borneo. Seven of these have since been met with elsewhere; but there remain 107 which have no other habitat at present known. Some of them are exceedingly rare, several having been only once found.
I have not in all cases mentioned the collector's name: but it is to be understood that when no name is given, that of
