( 837 ) 



XXVI. — The Anatomy and Affinity of Deparia Moorei, Hook. By John M'Lean 

 Thompson, M.A., B.Sc, Glasgow University. Communicated by Professor 

 Bower. 



(Read November 16, 1914. MS. received December 15, 1914. Issued separately May 22, 1915.) 



[Plates XCV-XCVIL] 



According to the brief account of this rare plant given in Hooker's Exotic Ferns 

 (1859), Deparia Moorei, Hook., was discovered in 1850 by Mr Charles Moore, 

 director of the Government Botanic Gardens, Sydney, in a dense wood by the side of 

 the Copenhagen River, New Caledonia. 



In Kew Garden Miscellany (February 1852), Sir William Hooker referred to it 

 under the above name as " a new species of Deparia, dedicated to its discoverer." 

 Hooker mentioned it as " a Deparia having reticulate veins," which might " entitle it 

 to rank as a new genus," and accordingly he " placed it in a section distinct from 

 Eudeparia, or those with free veins, under the name of Trichocarpus, from the 

 resemblance which the stipitate sori bear to some species of Trichia." 



Mr J. Smith also adopted it as a new genus, a*nd in his Catalogue of Keiv Garden 

 Ferns referred to it as Trichocarpa Moorei. 



Mr T. Moore likewise considered it entitled to rank as a new genus, and in the 

 Proceedings of the Linnean Society (February 1853) he named it Cionidium Moorei. 



In the Synopsis Filicum, Deparia was adopted as a distinct genus, and Deparia 

 Moorei was in 1874 stated to be closely allied to Dicksonia. 



In a descriptive note on Deparia nephrodioides, Bak., from Lord Howe's Island, 

 Mr J. G. Baker, writing in The Gardeners Chronicle (February 24, 1872), expressed 

 the belief that Deparia has " no rightful claim to be regarded as a genus in itself, but 

 that it would be better to reduce it to a section of Dicksonia." He further noted 

 that all known Deparias, except Deparia Moorei, belong to tropical America. 



In the Synopsis Filicum (1883), Deparia was maintained as a distinct genus, and 

 Deparia Moorei was one of seven species mentioned. 



H. Christ, in Die Farnkrduter der Erde (1897), placed Deparia prolifera in 

 Athyrium and Deparia Moorei in Aspidium, while G. Mettenius has suggested a 

 Woodsia affinity. 



Diels (E. and P. Nat. Pfi.), I, 4, p. 186 (1899) sank Deparia Moorei in Aspidium, 

 and C. Christensen adopted this position in his Index Filicum (1906). 



In The Origin of a Land Flora (1908), Professor Bower suggested a Davallioid 

 affinity, and it is further to be noted that other plants bearing the generic name 

 Deparia have passed under such names as Davallia, Dennstaedtia, and Oleandra. 



TRANS. ROY. SOC. EDIN, VOL L, PART IV (NO. 26). 120 



