1992 CLVI. FILICES. [Meiiiscium.. 



coriaceo-membranaoeous, 3 to 5-foliolate, sabdimorphous ; pinnaB 3 to 5m. long, 

 i to lin. broad, smaller and narrower in the fertile fronds ; terminal pinns 

 always the largest and long-petiolate, all of them oblong, acuminate, obtuse, or 

 cuneate or subhastate at the base, the margin repando-dentate or nearly entire ; 

 venation subpubesoent beneath ; soriferous veins, 4, 7, or 8-arched, the sori 

 extending the whole length of the transverse veinlet between the costules. 



Hab.: Daintree Biver, in Baron Mueller's notice in the " Victorian Naturalist," October, 1885, 

 of a few plants collected by Dr. T. P. Lucas in North Queensland. I have never seen any 

 Queensland specimens of this plant. 



84. ANTROPHYUM, Kaulf. 



(From antrum, a den or hollow ; the receptacles of sporangia being in a 

 groove or channel.) 



Rhizome creeping. Fronds simple, entire, lanceolate or broad, with longi- 

 tudinal more or less anastomosing veins, bearing long linear sOri without any 

 indusium. 



A small genus dispersed over the tropical regions of the New and the Old World. 



1. A., reticulatum (reticulate), Kaidf.; Hook. Spec. B'ilic. v. 169 ; Syn. 

 Filic. 393 ; Benth. H'L Austr. vii. 777. Rhizome hairy, creeping. Fronds 6in. 

 to 1ft. long, 1 to l^in. or rarely nearly 2in. broad, acuminate, tapering into a 

 short stipes, glabrous, rather firm, the veins prominent on the upper surface 

 forming long narrow areoles. Sori all longitudinal, narrow-linear, but varying 

 much in number and length. — Bedd. Ferns S. Ind. t. 52 and 231 ; Bail. Litho. 

 Ferns Ql. 177 ; A. plantagineum, Kaulf.; Bail. Ql. Ferns, 33. 



Hab.: Common in tropical localities. 



The species is Asiatic, extending to the Pacific Islands. 



35. ACROSTICHUM, Linn. 

 (So named because the fructification is often at the top of the fronds.) 



Rhizome creeping sometimes to a great length or short and erect. Fronds 

 undivided or pinnate, variously veined. Sori confluent, covering the under 

 surface of the fertile fronds or pinnse, which are usually smaller or narrower than 

 the barren ones. No indusium. 



A large genus, chiefly tropical, spread over both the New and the Old World. 



Fronds simple, lanceolate, with free vins, the fertile ones nearly similar . . 1. A. conforvie. 

 Fronds pinnate. Pinnte entire, the barren with numerous parallel free veins, 

 the fertile very narrow-linear. 



Barren pinnse broadly-lanceolate, rounded or cuneate at the base . . . . 2. A. scandens. 



Barren pinnsB narrow-lanceolate, tapering to a petiole ... . ... 3. A. sorbifoUuvi. 



var. leptocarpum. 

 Fronds pinnate. Veins reiioulate. 



PinnsB membranous, shortly and broadly pinnatifid, the fertile usually on 



different fronds i. A. repandvm. 



Very like .J . repandttm, but much smaller in all its parts 5. A. Taylori. 



Fronds 2 to 3ft. high, tufted, wing of rhaohis and lobes wavy-toothed ... 6. 4. neglectnvi. 

 Pianee coriaceous, entire, the uppfr ones fertile on the same fronds , . . l.A.aureum. 

 Fronds simple, narrow, with reticulate veins, contracted into a linear fertile 



apex S. A. spicatum. 



Fronds bipinnate, the fertile segments narrow-linear on difierent fronds 



from the barren 9. 4. pteroides. 



1. i\.. conforme (fertile and sterile fronds similar), Swartz; Hook. Spec. 

 Filic. V. 198, Syn. Filic. 401; Bunth. Fl. Austr. vii. 778. Rhizome creeping, 

 scaly. Fronds simple, lanceolate, coriaceous, from a few inches to above 1ft. 

 long, \ to lin. broad, acute or acuminate, tapering into a stipes sometimes 

 narrowly winged almost to the base ; veins parallel, simple or forked, not close, 



