780 PERNS OF NORTH QUEENSLAND^ 



ence in North Queensland inclines me to think that a eareful study 

 of growing- plants of S. ensifolium would reveal the existence of 

 different forms and even supposed varieties on the same plant. 

 Among my material, I have forms corresponding to Domin's f. 

 rhomhoidetim and f. ati gusli pinnum of var. heteroplryllum, but I 

 am doubtful whether they were not growing on the same plant. 

 Should I liave another opportunity of visiting the Cairns district, 

 I would spend some hours on that hillside at Kuranda, carefully 

 examining and comparing the plants in situ. Meanwhile, T ven- 

 ture to express the opinion that the variations of form in this 

 species are so bewildering, that it is of little avail trying to tie 

 tliem all down to distinctive names. 



The practice, foUow^ed by Domin, in the case of species wdth 

 variations, of making the type of the species "var. normale," does 

 not commend itself to me; for, of necessity, it means that the 

 description of the species must be made to cover all its varieties, 

 and this, in turn, would mean that, whenever a new variety w^as 

 discovered, the species would have to be redescribed. Would it 

 not be better to let the specific description stand for the type, and 

 then to let the varieties, as they arose, be described in relation to 

 the type? 



L I N D s A Y A Dryand. 

 L. CULTRATA Sw., var. CONCINNA (J. Sm., as species) Dom. 

 Kuranda; July-Aug., 1913. 



According to Domin, var. concinna differs from the type(L. cul- 

 trata) mainly in size. All the examples collected by him in North 

 Queensland belonged to var. concinna, as well as all the Queens- 

 land specimens he had examined. Mine also belong to the variety. 



L. DECOMPOSITA Willd.; L. lohata Poir. 



Kuranda; July-Aug., 1913. 



Domin distinguishes vars. contigua and davallioides (L. daval- 

 li aides Bl.) from the specific type (his var. normalis). Among 

 my specimens are the typical form and the var. contigua; and in 

 the Sydney Herbarium are specimens of var. davallioides, collected 

 by R. F. Waller, in the Herberton district, in 1908. 



