292 FERNS OF FIJI. 



Baltic. It is also recorded from Sweden, Norway and Denmark, 

 Lithuania, and the Loire in France. It appears to extend into 

 North America. P. lucens var. minor, Nolte, is given by A. Gray* 

 in the States, and to judge from specimens m the British Museum 

 labelled ' P. sjiathis, Tuckerm. herb.', the P. (/ramineus, var. 

 spathaformis is also referable to P. Zizii. 



Among the synonyms given above is P. lucens, var coriaceus, 

 Nolte, which is referred to P. Zizii by Koch and by Ascherson. 

 It was first recorded in 182Gi by Nolte, who sent specnnens 

 to Mertens, and it was duly inserted in Rohling's ' Deutschlands 

 Flora.' I Eeichenbach has given an excellent figure in the ; Icones,' 

 t. 37, drawn from an authentic specimen, and well agreeing with 

 one in the Museum herbarium, gathered by Nolte in 1821, at 

 Schahsch, in Lauenburg. This is the P. lucens, var. lacustre of 

 Thore,§ and is a very remarkable plant with thick ovate floating 

 leaves^ and the lower submerged ones frequently reduced to_ the 

 spine -like midrib. It is, I think, rightly referred to lucens in a 

 wide sense, but is not quite Zizii; nor does it agree completely 

 with the lucens with floating leaves from Kinghorn Loch, Fife, 

 collected by Mr. Boswell (Syme). Some British botanists would 

 ceita.inly callii heterophi/llus. ^^^ t . 



P. Zizii, then, must be considered as more closely alhed to 

 P. lucens than to P. heteropJujllus, and may be placed, like P. deci- 

 piens, as a variety or subspecies under the former species. 



Description of Tab. 204. — Representing Poi'ajnorjfefo;! -^i^u'.M ct K., from 

 specimens sent bv Mr. Brotherston. 1. Upper part of a plant in flower. 2. 

 Portion of a lower branch. 3. Extremity of a branch of the larger form. 4. A 

 perianth-leaf. 5. Fruit. 



> ON A COLLECTION OF FERNS OATHEEED IN THE 

 FIJI ISLANDS BY ME. JOHN HOENE, F.L.S. 

 By J. 0. Baker, F.E. S. 



Me. Horne, F.L.S. , the director of the Botanic Garden at 

 Mauritius, who has already-done such good service to botany in his 

 exploration of the Seychelles, has recently, whilst on an expedition 

 in search of new varieties of sugar-cane, on the invitation of the 

 governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, spent nearly a year in the Fiji 

 Islands, engaged in the investigation of their flora. He has now 

 returned to England, bringing with him his specimens, which run 

 up to 114G numbers. Of these about 300 numbers, illustrating 

 nearly 200 species or well-marked varieties, are ferns and fern- 

 allies. It is now practicable to explore in safety all the islands of 

 the Fiji group, so that Mr. Horne has been able to visit many 



* A. Gray, ' Man. Bot. N. U. States,' p. 28S. 

 + Nolte, ' Novit. Fl. HolsMt,' p. 21, footnote. 

 + Loc. cit., p. 8d(). 

 § Thore, ' Chloris des Landes,' p. 4U. 



