144 VEGETATION OF LORD HOWE ISLAND, 



and a tufty grass ( Sporobolus J , introduced. The former has taken 

 possession of all the old cultivations which have been abandoned. 

 Natural grasses are of two or three kinds, and a Hijatrix^ binding 

 the beach. I also saw one patch of blady-grass ( Impurata 

 artmdinacea), but whether this is indigenous to the island I should 

 think doubtful, as it was growing in the midst of the couch-grass, 

 and may have been brought with it to that place." Lnperata is 

 not in Moore's lists of plants (1869 and 1S71), and I was not 

 aware of Hill's reference to 1 mperata until a few days ago. If 

 we exclude Cynodon, Sporobolus and Imperata from the list of 

 indigenous vegetation I hardly know where we should stop; cer- 

 tainly many have no greater claims for inclusion. 



CRYPTOGAMS. 



Cyathea brevipinna. Baker. — Hemsley says : " This is most 

 likely the plant referred to in Mueller's list {Fragm. ix. 78) as C. 

 medtdlaris, Sw." This surmise is correct. Following is a copy of 

 a label of this plant in Mueller's handwriting : " Cyathea medul- 

 laris, Sw. var. pinnulis brevioribus et obtusioribus." 



Cyathea Macarthurii, F.v.M.— T\\hi is a tree-fern with a 

 black, prickly stem. The rhachis usually covered with a brown 

 scurf. The pinnules dry, pale on the under side. 



Tree-ferns have frequently subconical stems for 2 or 3 feet 

 above the ground ; I measured one of this species which was 70 

 inches in circumference 2 feet above the ground. I saw several 

 which appeared to be 60 or 70 feet high (Lind & Fullagar state 

 10 to 12 feet). 



Alsophila robusta, C. Moore, Hort. Syd. (Syn. Alsophila 

 excelsd, R.Br., var., Mueller, Herb. Melb. {A. excelsa, R.Br., 

 Fragm. ix. 78) ; Alsophila australis, R.Br., var. ? nigrescens, 

 Benth. B. Fl. vii. 710).— Under Alsophila australis, R.Br. var. 

 nigrescens, Hemsley follows Bentham in so naming a plant to 

 which the name A. robusta had been given by Mr. C. Moore. A. 



* Spinifex hirsutus. 



