398 THE FEKNS OF LORD HO AVE ISLAND, 



Alsophila robrtsta, 1 entirely concur in the notes made by 

 Mr. Maiden {/or. cit. infra). No one who sees it actually 

 growing, can doubt that it is a true species. 



In what is known as "The Dinner Run," on the eastern 

 side of Mt. Lidgbird, 1 found a fern which has been, up to 

 now, identified with Aspleninni ptcrirlioidts. The only point 

 of likeness — and, of course, it is a striking one — was, that 

 the sori were very long and quite marginal, giving it a pteroid 

 appearance. I found, however, that the Islanders dis- 

 tinguish tjie two, calling A. pteridioides the "Crown fern," 

 and the other the "Parsley," or Celery" fern (I forget 

 which). Even on thelsland, I was quite convinced that the 

 two ferns were distinct, after observing their habitat and gene- 

 ral characteristics. On my return to Sydney, I commenced a 

 careful examination of details, and found, among other 

 things, that the spore-cases were much larger in the one than 

 in the other, and that, while the spores of A . pferidioides 

 were kidney-shaped, those of the other were uniformly oval 

 in form. Miss Flockton, the Herbarium artist, kindly made 

 drawings of the spores, and these, together with my notes, 

 were sent by Mr. E. Betche to Dr. Christ, of Basle. One 

 point had struck me as of great importance : the Dinner Run 

 fern was, to a slight extent, proliferous, after the manner of 

 A. huihifertim ; A. pteridiojdes, never. Dr. Christ's reply 

 was as follows : — "One would say it was an intermediate form 

 between A hulbiferum Forst., of which it has the habit, and 

 A. pteridioidex, of wbirli it has the marginal sori. The pro- 

 liferous apex of tlie frond also links it with A. hiilhiferutu . 

 Might it be a hybrid between the two? The difference, also, 

 of the spores is striking. You would do well to examine the 

 spores of A . biilhifenim to see if these resemble those of the 

 form 'A' (the fern in question). Biit I believe that, for the 

 present, 'A' must be admitted to be a different species, and 

 new, while granting its affinity with A. hidbifrriMn." 



An examination of the spores of A . bulbifernm proved 

 thDm to be practically identical with those of the form "A." 



