THE FERN WORLD OF AUSTRALIA. 41 
and six to eighteen inches high in some forms, while others are 
variously divided, bi-pinnate or having elongated pinnatifid pinnas 
with numerous small segments. , Pinn^ or pinnules exceedingly 
variable in number and shape, ovate obovate, linear or lanceolate, 
one to three inches long, barren ones often serrulate, the frond 
often ending in a long ensiform lobe. Veins more or less anasto- 
mosing. Sori continuous along the whole margin except the short 
equally cuneate base. All the various forms may be found on the 
same rhizome so it is impossible to make marked varieties. And 
perhaps it would be advisable to include L. Fraseri as a variety of 
this species, as the lower pinnae of that species are frequently deeply 
lobed. Common along the borders of swamps throughout North 
Australia and the whole of Queensland. 
L. lanuginosa, Wall. Ehizome stout creeping, epiphytical. 
Frond one to four feet long, pinnate with the rhachis densely woolly 
tomentose, the old fronds becoming glabrous. Pinnai numerous, 
coriaceous, more or less falcate, obtuse or acute, very deciduous. 
Veins simple or forked, diverging from the costule all free, a white' 
dot on the upper side marking where they terminate just within the 
margin. Sori continuous along the margins except the obliquely 
truncate base. Found forming immense masses on the trees of 
North Queensland scrubs. Although a most beautiful fern seldom 
seen in cultivation. 
XXII. — Adiantum, Linn. Maiden-Hair Fern. 
Ehizome creeping or tufted. Frond simple or compound. Pin- 
nules more or less petiolate, often oblique. Veins forked or 
dichotomous radiating from the petiolule to the margin without any 
mid-rib. Sori marginal, short and distinct or partly elongated and 
confluent. Indusium continuous with the margin and recurved 
bearing the spore-cases on its under surface. Name derived from 
the Greek Adiantos, in allusion to the dry texture of their fronds 
or perhaps on account of their possessing in a remarkable degree 
the property of repeUing water. 
A. lunulatum, Burm. Ehizome short. Fronds tufted, pinnate, 
six to twelve inches long, the rhachis extended beyond the pinnae 
and .proliferous. Pinnae articulated on slender j)6tiolules of one to 
four lines, obliquely fan-shaped, half to one inch or more broad. 
Sori elongated, sometimes continuous along the whole outer margin, 
but often more or less interrupted. Port Darwin in North Australia, 
and Eockingham Bay in Queensland. 
A. capillus-veneris, Linn. Maiden-hair of England. Ehizome 
creeping. Fronds bi-pinnate, broadly ovate in outline, six to twelve 
inches long and sometimes nearly as broad, the rhachis capillare. 
Pinnules on short petiolules, broadly obovate or obliquely flabelli- 
form, four to eight lines broad, more or l^ess divided into cuneate, 
obtuse or truncate lobes, thin, of a bright green. Sori at the end 
