ALSOPHILA. 



359 



A. 1. Oldhami— Old'-ham-i (Oldham's), Beddome. 



Like A. khasyana of Moore, with which it is probably identical, this 

 plant may safely be given as a form of the above-described species. According 

 to Beddome, it was discovered on the Khasya Hills by Mr. Oldham, to whom 

 he dedicated it. Its fronds are ample and tripinnate (three times divided to 

 the midrib) ; their primary pinnae (principal leaflets) are 2ft. long, Sin. to 9in. 

 broad, oblong in shape, and terminate in a tapering point ; the pinnules 

 (leafits), with which the pinnae are densely furnished, are of a thin, papery 

 texture, 4in. to 5in. long and barely lin. broad, and their costa (midrib) is 

 very scaly underneath and slightly hairy on the upper surface. — Beddome, 

 Ferns of British India, t. 343. 



A. Leichardtiana — Leich-ardt-i-a'-na (Leichardt's), F. Mueller. 



This greenhouse species, allied to A. australis — from which, however, it' 

 is undoubtedly distinct — is one of the finest of all known Australian Ferns. 

 Its beauty has, in fact, been so well appreciated that the same plant has been 

 dedicated to Sir William McArthur by Hooker, who named it A. Macarthurii, 

 and to Mr. Charles Moore, of Sydney, by J. Smith, who named it A. Moorei. 

 It is the "Whip-stick Fern" of the Colonists, and is found in the woods 

 near Sydney, on the Hastings and Marlony Rivers, in Illawara, &c. Its stem 

 or trunk is of a comparatively slender nature, for while it is said to attain 

 20ft. to 25ft. in height, it measures only 9in. in diameter. The handsome 

 fronds, which, notwithstanding the size of the trunk, are produced in 

 abundance, are from 6ft. to 10ft. in length, of a firm texture, dark green 

 above, more or less glaucous (bluish-green) beneath, glabrous (smooth) or 

 nearly so, devoid of scales, and tripinnate (three times divided to the midrib). 

 Their stipes (stalks) are peculiarly articulated (jointed) upon the trunk, and 

 the rachis (stalk of the leafy portion of the frond), of an ebeneous- 

 purple colour, is deciduously powdery and spiny. The primary pinnse 

 (principal leaflets) are l|ffc. to 2ft. long and Sin. broad, oblong-spear-shaped, 

 and terminate in a tapering point ; the secondary pinnaB (divisions of the 

 primary ones) are sessile (stalkless), and pinnatifid (divided half-way to their 

 midrib) only at their point, while the ultimate pinnules (sub-divisions) are 

 long, narrow, pointed, and have their margins toothed like a saw and 

 slightly recurved. The copious small sori (spore masses) are disposed 



