38 
THE FERN WORLD OF AUSTRALIA. 
sium about quarter line broad and very short, thus scarcely discernible 
when the sorus is ripe, attached only by the broad base, often luiiry. 
This fern is found abundant in Queensland, both north and south, 
growing on the side of creeks and damp hills ; it is also plentiful 
in S. Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. In many good works on 
ferns this species is spoken of as resembling Dicksonia daYallioides, 
but in Queensland where the two are found in company they differ 
nearly as much in general appearance as the two Todeas T. barbara 
and T. hymenophylloides. 
D. speluncse, Baker. Rhizome creeping. Fronds large, flaccid, 
bi-tripinnate. Secondary pinn^ lanceolate, two to four inches long, 
pinnate in the lower part, pinnatifid towards the end, membranous, 
hairy underneath as well as the rhachis. Lower pinnules half to 
three-quarter inch long, pinnatifid, the upper ones gradually smaller 
and confluent, reduced towards the end to small lobes. Sori 
several on each pinnule below the sinus of the lobes, forming two 
rows at same distance from the margin. Indusium broad short, 
membranous, slightly toothed or jagged, attached only by the broad 
base. Found in several parts of tropical Queensland. 
D. tripinnata, F. v. M. This is said to be an 'elegant fern and 
confined so far as at present known to the Bellender Ker Range, 
Queensland. The following is the discription given in the Flora 
Australiensis of a single frond eight inches long, six inches broad 
at the base, stipes hairy six inches long, thrice pinnate, the main 
rhachis hairy. Primary pinnae lanceolate, secondary oblong half to 
one inch long, pinnules two to four lines, deeply divided into two to 
four obovate obtuse lobes, dark green on both sides but rather thin, 
the lower pinn^ and pinnules quite distinct, the upper ones smaller 
and confluent at the base. Sori few in the specimen under the 
sinus of some of the smaller lobes. Indusium membranous, broad 
and somewhat j agged, attached only by the broad base. 
XX. — ViTTARiA, Sm. 
Rhizome creeping. Fronds simple, linear, the veins oblique 
connected by an intramarginal veins. Sori continuous lying in a 
groove at or near the margin, the substance of the frond forming 
a two-valved indusium. Name derived from vitta, a ribbon, 
referring to the drooping fronds. 
V. elongata, Swartz. Grass-leaved fern. Rhizome shortly 
creeping covered with dark colored hair-like scales. Frond varying 
in length from a few inches to several feet, and with a breadth of 
from one to five fines, acute, or obtuse at the end, gradually tapering 
into a short dark colored stipes of a rather coriaceous texture. 
Veins very obfique, sometimes almost parallel with the costa. Sori 
usually extending nearly the whole length of the frond. This 
curious grass-like fern may be frequently seen fringing the stems of 
the tree in the scrubs of tropical Queensland, in which situation the 
fronds are usually very long. At Maroochie, a place about eighty miles 
