BY THE REV. DR. W00LLS, D.D., F.L.S. 747 



Leichhardtiana is much more slender than A. australis, and differs 

 from it in the dark purple colour of the raches, the lanceolate 

 oblong, somewhat falcate form of the segments, which are sharply- 

 serrated, especially at the apex, and the more forked character 

 of the veins, whilst the base of the stipes is covered with long 

 brown setaceous hairs. Sir "W. Macarthur speaks of this fern as 

 a " very slender-growing species, the midribs of the fronds dark 

 purple, and very spiny." A. Cooperi, which Mr. Bentham unites 

 with A. australis, is principally known from Illawarra and the 

 Kurrajong, growing in company with A. Leichhardtiana and 

 Dichsonia antarctica, especially on the banks of creeks or gullies 

 of the trap formation. Baron F. von Mueller has described this 

 f ern in the Fragmenta Phytographice Australia: (Vol. 5, p. 117), 

 and it is also described from specimens of Dr. Darra Moore in 

 Hooker's Synopsis Filicum, p. 459. At Cabbage Tree Hollow on 

 the Blue Mountains, A. Cooperi sometimes attains a height of 20 

 feet with a circumference of 8 or 9 inches. The caudex is not so 

 stout as that of A. australis, nor are the fronds generally so large. 

 It is well distinguished by the pale oval scars, caused by the 

 annual f ailing off of the fronds, which is not the case in the allied 

 species. The fronds are not so thick in texture as those of the 

 the others, the raches are straw-coloured, much smoother than 

 those of A. australis and A. Leichhardtiana, and the veins are 

 usually more forked than in the former ; whilst (so far as I have 

 observed on the Blue Mountains) the sori are larger and eventually 

 cover nearly the whole of the under surface. Besides the oval 

 scars of the caudex, which seem to mark this species and impart 

 a peculiar character to it, the chaffy scales are remarkable. These, 

 (intermixed with dark brown setaceous ones, clothe the raches of 

 the younger fronds and are similar to those of A. excelsa. Sir 

 W. Macarthur characterizes A. Cooperi as " a beautiful species, 

 the stem cylindrical, the midribs of the fronds yellow and quite 

 smooth." There may be some difficulty in distinguishing some 

 of its fronds from those of the allied species, as they appear in 



