170 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [MARCH 
Material 
A large number of entire plants was collected by Dr. CHARLES 
J. CHAMBERLAIN in November rorr, in Northern Australia. . The 
exact locality is near Babinda, in the Cairns district of Queensland, 
at a distance of about 25 miles from the coast. Occasional clusters 
of plants were found near the ground, but more usually they 
occurred at a considerable height, up to 30 meters. In almost 
all cases they were growing in the masses of humus accumulated 
by large plants of Polypodium rigidulum; Lycopodium phlegmaria 
was a common associate. Plants of this species were also observed 
on Stradbroke Island, near Brisbane, but no collections were made. 
The groups of plants here were at a less distance from the ground; 
they were commonly attached to plants of Platycerium alcicorne 
and P. grande. : 
In the material secured at Babinda, the largest leaves had 
attained a length of about 1.5 meters. However, some of the 
plants on Stradbroke Island had leaves nearly 2 meters long, and 
Mr. Ws. Grsson, a collector familiar with that region, reported 
a specimen with leaves measuring 2.7 meters in length. The 
largest spikes seen measured 30 cm. in length and 1.2 cm. in great 
est width. Many cases of branching or lobing of the spikes were 
observed; probably one-tenth of the specimens showed some 
variation from the simple form. 
This supply of entire plants was supplemented by a large number 
of rhizomes, root tips, buds, and spikes collected by Dr. W. J. G. 
Lanp on the island of Tutuila, Samoa, in October 1912. These 
plants, together with many ferns and occasional plants of Lycopo- 
dium phlegmaria, occurred in the root masses of Asplenium nidus, 
at a height of 2-10 meters; a large cluster is shown in fig. I. The 
leaves reached a length of 2 meters; branching of the leaf was not 
uncommon, but branching or lobing of the spike was relatively 
rare. The largest spike collected measured 51 cm. in length and 
1.3 cm. in width; sporangia occurred along 45 cm. of its length. 
Several spikes more than 40 cm. in length were found. : 
The Australian material was preserved in 6 per cent formalin; 
that secured in Samoa was killed in 50 per cent alcohol and 6 pet 
cent formalin. Even the largest rhizomes cut readily in para 
