Ser. Ehodospermej*;. Fam. Spharococcoidea. 



Plate CL. 



DELESSERIA CORIIFOLIA, Haw. 



Gen. Char. Frond leaf-like, membranaceous, areolated, symmetrical, sim- 

 ple or branched, midribbed. Fructification: 1, hemispherical co7i- 

 ceptacles, sessile on the midrib, or on a lateral nerve, containing a 

 tuft of moniliforra spore-threads on a basal placenta; 2, tripartite 

 tetraspores, in definite sori or spots, on the frond, or on accessory 

 leaflets. — Delesseria [Ag,), in honour of Baron Delessert, a distin- 

 guished patron of botany. 



Frons foUacea, memhranacea, areolata, si/mmetrica, simplex v. ramosa, costata. 

 Fruct. : 1, coccidia in casta venisquefrondis sessilia, hemispkarica, fila spori- 

 ftra moniliformia a placenta basali emissa foventia : 2, tetrasporce triangule 

 divisie, in soros defiuitos collectce. 



Delesseria coriifolia; frond midribbed, becoming branched by leaflets 

 springing from the thick midrib ; leaflets cartilagineo-carnose, thick, 

 opaque, lanceolate, obtuse ; membrane formed of several rows of poly- 

 hedral cells, the innermost large, the cortical very minute ; cysto- 

 carps and sori respectively borne on proper fruit-leaflets emitted by the 

 midribs, 



D. coriifolia ; fronde costata foliolis a costacrassaprorumpentihus ramosa ;folio- 

 lis cartilagineo-carnosis crassis opacis lanceolatis ohtusis ; memhrance cellulis 

 pluriserialibus, interioribiis magnis polyliedris, corticalibus minutissimis ; cys- 

 tocarpiis sorisque in sporophyllis propriis e costa enatis. 



Delesseria coriifolia, Harv. in Trans. R. I. Acad. v. 22./?. 548 ; Alg. Austr. 

 Exsic. n. 273. 



Hab. Garden Island and Rottnest, Western Australia, W. H. H., G. Clif- 

 ton. 

 Geogr. Distr. Western Australia. 



Descr. Root discoid. Frond at first consisting of a linear-oblong or sublanceo- 

 late, midribbed leaf, which on the decay of the lamina and thickening of 

 the rib, is gradually changed into a compressed, or imperfectly winged 

 stem. This primary frond emits numerous similar leaves, which issue irre- 

 gularly from the thick midrib, and in their turn emit secondary and often 

 tertiary similar but smaller leaflets. The larger leaves are 3-5 inches long, 

 •j-f inch wide, either blunt at base or tapering, and usually very blunt at 

 the apex. The substance is thick, leathery when fresh, rigid when dry, and 

 the membrane is composed of several rows of irregularly polyhedral cellules, 

 all filled with granular matter, and the outer ones deeply coloured. The 



