BY J. H. MAIDEN. 739 



Dr. Metcalfe told me that the fern grew up to GO feet in height. 

 It is, or has been, so abundant that I saw a corduroy road of 

 Tree-fern stems ! 



Lieut.-Govr. King writes, presumably referring to this species; 



*' The fern-tree is, Hkewise, found of a good height, measuring from 

 seventy to eighty feet, and affords good food for the hogs, sheep, and goats, 

 all which thrive" (Hist. Rec. N.S.W. Vol. i. Pt. 2, p. 187). 



A. australis, R.Br., is (in B.Fl. vii. 711) recorded from Norfolk 

 Island in the following words : — 



"In the typical A. anstralis, chiefly from N.S. Wales and Tasmania, but 

 also among Queensland and Norfolk Island specimens, the ultimate pinnules, 

 are thin, rather acute, barren and serrulate at the end, the sori not reaching 

 beyond the middle. In the Norfolk Island form originally described as A. 

 exceUd, the pinnules are longer, narrower, thicker, obtuse with recurved 

 margins, soriferous and entire or obscurely crenate to the end. But some 

 Norfolk Island specimens are the precise counterpart of Brown's from King's 

 Island." 



Tate follows Bentham in recording A. australis and excluding 

 the name A. excelsa from Norfolk Island. In my opinion Alsojihila 

 excelsa, R.Br., from Norfolk Island, and A. a2ostralis, E.Br., are 

 perfectly distinct species. 



Bentham, working only on herbarium material, united A. 

 excelsa, as well as A. Coojyeri with A. australis; but he would 

 hardly have done so if he had seen the living plants. 



Alsophila aust^'ulis has a rough stem, studded with the prickly 

 bases of the stalks of the fronds; while A. excelsa and A. Coopeni 

 have smooth stems ; the fronds drop off completely, leaving a 

 smooth scar on the stem. A. australis is also more prickly, less 

 scaly-hairy, and altogether different in habit from A. excel sa and 

 A. Cooper i. 



Mueller, in his Census, followed R. Brown, and kept A. excelsa 

 and A. australis apart as distinct species; and I think that is the 

 correct view. 



I believe Mueller united A. Cooper i and A. excelsa, and the 

 note in Census, ^^ A. excelsa . . . N.S.W. . . Q.," refers 

 to A. excelsa from Norfolk, and A. Coojjeri from Australia. 



