FILICES. 



Gen. C 



TAB. CI. 



TODEA FRASERL 



OsMUNDACEa. Er., Kaulf. Osmundace^. Spreng. Schismato 



PTERIDES. Willd. 



TODEA, Willd. OSMUNDM, Pars., Thunb.. Sm.. Br 



Linn. Capsula globosae, pedicellatae 



ACROSTICHl sp 



culatae, gibbere (vel annulo) dorsali pellucid 



lateraliter dehiscentes, venulis frondis infer. insidentes. Spreng 



To 



F> 



frondibus bip 



membranaceis glabris, pinnulis oblongis profunde serratis, 



pinnarum rachi 



Hab 



In 



pibus madidis 



pud 



a 



Bougainville Cataract" in montibus caeruleis Nov 



Hol 



landiae. D. Fraser. 



Caudex erectus, brevis ? crassus, subsquamosus, vestigiis frondium vetustarum 





ad apicem frondos 



Stipites subquadripollicares, semiteretes, glabri, hinc sulcati, inferne squamis fuscis latis membranaceis instructi. 

 Frondes, circumscriptione, ovato-lanceolatae, bipinnatae, pinnis patentibus lanceolato-acuminatis, sessilibus, iterum 



pinnatis, pinnulis oblongis, obtusis, pellucido-membranaceis, (siccitate) olivaceo-fuscis, minute reticulatis, 



costatis, parallelo-venosis, venis simplicibus rarissime furcatis. llachis primaria nuda, nisi extremitatem 



versus frondis, ubi, secundaria vel pinnarum, membranaceo-alata. 

 Capsula in venas pinnularum, praecipue basin versus, in parte inferiori frondis sparsae, pallide fuscse, sphericae, 



pedicellatae, reticulatae, rima verticali a basi ad gibberem dorsalem vel annulum reticulatum, albido-pellucidum 



dehiscens. 



Semina parva, subglobosa, pellucida. 



Fig. 1. Pinnula cum capsulis 



f. 



Portio pinnulae. f. 3. 4?. 4. Capsulae 



f. 5. Semina : — magn. auct 





We have here followed Swartz, Willdenow, Kaulfuss, and Sprengel, in retaining the genus Todea, 

 as distinguished from Osmunda, with which Brown, as Thunberg has done, unites it. 



There is a difference of habit in the two genera, mainly however arising, we must confess, from 

 the circumstance of the fructifications being placed on the back of the unchanged frond in Todea ; 

 whilst in Osmunda they are situated on the altered and contracted pinnules. In Osmunda regalis, 



i 



however, we find the ring or gibbous portion distinctly striated ; in Todea it is reticulated. 



was 



The very interesting species here represented, — the second only of the genus now described, 

 communicated to us by Mr. Fraser, who observes, that he found it but in one spot, below moist 

 rocks, at Bougainville's Cataract, in the Blue Mountains of New Holland. It difFers remarkably 

 from T. qfricana, which is equally a native of New Holland, by the delicate and subpellucid texture 



of its frond. 



third species of Todea, but not probably an Australasian plant, is known to 

 Mr. Brown, having a frond of a similar habit with that of T. Fraseri, as may be inferred from his 

 observations, under the genus Osmunda, Prodr. p. 163 : "Quoniam in Todea Willd. capsulae vere 



* 



pedicellatae, et cum porro alia species existit, iisdem pariter dorsalibus, at fronde pellucidd Tricho- 



instar donata. consultius duxi ambas ad Osmundam amandare 



n 





