388 W. W. WATTS. 



II. Polypodium (Grammitis) howeanum sp. nov. 



(P. australe in Herbariis err.) 



Rhizoma robustiusculum, adscenclens vel subcsespitosum, densis- 

 simefibrillosutn, apice dense paleaceum, paleis longiusculis, lanceo- 

 latis, subflexuosis, mollibus, longe subulatis, subula flexuosa. 

 Stipites dense approximate, glabri, fere ad basin per attenuatam 

 frondis laminam alati, plus minusve brunnei. Frons glaberrinia, 

 integerrima, ad 3 dm. vel ultra longa et prope ad 1 cm. lata, sed 

 plerumque multo angustior, sicca subfalcata, distincte recurva, 

 infra longissime in brevem stipitem sensim attenuata, supra 

 oblongo-lanceolata, longe acuminata, nervo valido, fere percurrente, 

 subtus prominenti; venulis numerosis, dichotomis, utrisque furcis 

 equalibus vel subequalibus, fere ad marginem attingentibus, erecto- 

 patentibus, indistinctis ; soris in superiore tertia frondis parte et 

 in superioribus furcis venularum positis, obliquis, sublinearibus, 

 saepe confluentibus. Color dilute viridis, haud nitens Textura 

 coriacea. 



Upper slopes and summit of Mount Gower, also on Mount 

 Lidgbird; often associated with P. pulchellum. 



Hitherto identified with P. australe (R. Br.) Mett., from 

 which, however, it differs through its stouter rhizome, its 

 much longer fronds, its long, subulate, flexuose scales, its 

 very short, smooth stipes, and, especially, its finer and 

 more closely set venules with their long equal or nearly 

 equal forks. P. australe has venules with one long fork 

 and one short one (bearing the sorus); it also shows its 

 venules more or less distinctly in slightly raised ridges on 

 the upper surface, and its venules are much farther apart 

 than those of P. hoiveanum. The fronds, also, of P. australe 

 are more or less distinctly crenulate. 



