FERNS. 135 
the underside of the frond, as the name implies; the pinne 
moreover are not free at the base as in L. Capensis, but all 
adnate. In the same respect stand to each other Lomaria fluvia- 
tilis and Lomaria lanceolata of our Ferntree gullies, both being 
much smaller plants than our common Lomarias. Smaller still 
is the neat Lomaria alpina of the frosty height of our alps, where 
it lines the rivulets. Lomaria Patersoni, discovered by Governor 
Paterson, has simple lanceolar or few-lobed sterile fronds. Only 
one Blechnum is as yet found in our territory, namely Blechnum 
cartilagineum, with segments of the frond (or pinne) adnate at 
the base. But an East-Australian species, B. levigatum is so 
similar to Lomaria Capensis, except in its fruit, that it may have 
been passed unnoticed. 
The genus Doodya, dedicated to an early exact observer of acoty- 
ledonous plants, effects a transit from Blechnum to Asplenium ; 
it combines the shape of the fruitmasses and involucre of Asple- 
nium with more of the longitudinal position of the sori of a 
Blechnum, not however forming a single uninterrupted line of the 
- fruits on each side of the midrib. Doodya may be regarded as a 
section of the older genus Woodwardia. Doodya aspera is the 
_ larger of two species occurring in our Ferntree gullies; it has 
generally all the segments of the frond adnate at the base, while 
Doodya caudata (or Woodwardia caudata) has the lower pinne 
free. The genus Asplenium is represented by five species in 
Victoria, unless others from New South Wales should yet show 
themselves in the hitherto secluded forests of East Gippsland; to 
the latter regions is restricted in our colony also Asplenium Nidus, 
singular for its large fronds circularly arranged. Equally rare is 
Asplenium trichomanes, a species remarkable like the following 
(and also like Aspidium aculeatum, Pteris aquilina and Hymeno- 
phylum Tunbridgense) for its wide diffusion over the globe. It 
is a tufted small but rigid Fern with minute segments, pinnately 
arranged. Asplenium marinum is so variable, that its principal 
varieties are generally regarded as distinct species. In all its 
stages it is a conspicuous Fern, with simply or doubly pinnate 
fronds and often incised segments. The typical Fern from coast 
rocks is dwarf, less divided and unusually of thick leathery texture ; 
