TTIE PERN WORLD OF AUSTRALIA. 
45 
P. falcata, R. Br. Ear fern. Rhizome creeping. Fronds six 
inclies to two feet long, pinnate, the stipes and rhachis densely 
scaly-hirsnte, Pinnge numerous, distant, nearly sessile, lanceolate, 
usually falcate, one to two inches long, rather obtuse, cariaceous 
with the venation concealed, the lower ones at times auriculate at 
the base on the upper side, and usually at a much greater distance 
apart. Sori very broad, occupying nearly half the width of pinna, 
continuous all round except near the apex, and the truncate base. 
Found in parts of New South Wales, near Melbourne, at the 
Grampians, and near Sale, Gippsland, and Tasmania. 
Var. nana. Rhizome very short. Fronds tufted, pinnse much 
closer almost overlapping, much smaller and more acute than in the 
species, often over eighty on a frond of eighteen inches long. This 
is the form mostly met with in Queensland, and common in every 
scrub, on rocks, logs, &c. 
Var. rotundifolia. This has the same habit as the species 
differing only in form of pinnse which is more orbicular. It is said 
to have been gathered on Mount Dryander, and Mount Lindsey, 
in Queensland. I cannot find any character by which to separate 
this last form, the Pell^ea rotundifolia of Hooker's species Fihcum 
from P. falcata, and think also it would have been better to have 
followed Baron Mueller and have included as another form P. 
paradoxa. 
P. longifolia, Linn. Rhizome short and thick. Fronds one to 
three feet high, pinnate, lanceolate in outline, stipes hairy-scaly at 
the base. Pinnje numerous, nearly sessile, linear or linear-lancolate, 
three to six inches long ; veins simple or forked, transverse from the 
costule. Sori continuous along the whole margin except the small 
rounded, cordate, or truncate base. Found in Queensland near 
Brisbane, also on the main range, and a few places in the tropics ; 
in N. S. Wales, Blue Mountains, New England, &c., and in 
Gippsland, Victoria. 
P. ensiformis, Burm. Rhizome short, scaly. Fronds nine to 
eighteen inches high, pinnate, stipes long, glabrous. Pinna3 when 
fertile narrow linear, entire, lobed or again pinnate at the base, 
terminal lobe the longest, often over four inches long, the lateral 
ones often shortly decurrent ; lobes of the barren fronds sometimes 
ovate and denticulate ; veins forked, transverse from the costule. 
Sori continuous round the fertile lobes. Queensland, Herbert River, 
Endeavour River, Cape York Peninsula, Port Denison, A pretty 
little fern of easy culture. 
P. umbrosa, R. Br. Rhizome short, knotted somewhat erect. 
Fronds one to three feet high, pinnate, the stipes often slightly 
rough. Pinnge thirteen or more linear-lanceolate, four to nine 
inches long, entire or the low^er ones again divided into three to 
five similar segments, all rrore or less decurrent on the rhachis, 
usually broader and minutely serrulate when barren, and the barren 
ends of fertile ones often deeply serrate ; veinlets transverse, 
mostly forked. Sori continuous down the decurrent base. Taylor's 
