16 
THK FERN WORLD OF AUSTRALIA. 
Polypodium poeciloplilebiTim. At times this fern might he 
mistaken for F. urophyUum, with which it is often found, but the 
direction of its veins are always very irregular and it is of much 
smaller habitat. Scrubs of tropical Queensland. 
PolypocLium nigrescens. Stem creeping thick, leaves tall broad 
and deeply lobed, the seed-patches deeply sunk in the leaf and 
forming raised lumps on the upper surface. Daintree Eiver^ 
Queensland. 
Polypodium^ phymatodes. A fern very similar to the last, leaf 
perhaps of a thicker substance and vein not so prominent. Often 
found near the coast of tropical Queensland. 
Polypodium. verrucosum. Leaves tall pinnate, smooth leaflets 
long narrow, mark of seed-patches prominent on the upper surface 
of leaflet. Rockingham Bay, Daintree River. 
Acrostichum repandum. Stem creeping, leaves tall, leaflets four 
or five inches long often lobed, leaflets of fertile leaves much 
smaller. Several of the scrubs of tropical Queensland. 
A. neglectum. Is certainly one of the most beautiful of our 
ferns, I found it on a small flat in one of the gullies leading into 
the Barron River, Trinity Bay range. Its fronds are from two to 
three or even more feet high deeply cut into narrow lobes, which are 
furnished on the margin with teeth like a saw, the stalks are 
frilled to the base, and the whole frond of a rich deep green color. 
Group YII. — Swamp Ferns. 
Helminthostacliys zeylajiioa. Rookstock shortly creeping. The 
leaf from six to eighteen inches high, tender spread out somewhat 
like a hand on the top of the stalk, at the base of which arises a 
spike bearing the seed. This curious plant is most abundant around 
swamps from Rockhampton to the Barron River, Trinity Bay, 
Queensland. 
ScMzsea Forsteri- A small and beautiful fern often found 
growing among the roots of tall palms in swamps. Leaf fan shaped 
from three to six inches high, divided into narrow lobes crowned by 
star shaped brown seed patches, rest of plant a bright green. 
Found at the base of palms at Maroochie, and also Trinity Bay 
ranges. 
Ceratopteris thalictroides. A water fern found growing in 
the still waters of swamps and also on the damp soil around.' 
Leaves from a short thick crown much and irregularly divided into 
narrow stalk-like lobes ; the whole of a very pale color. Found from 
Brisbane River to Port Darwin, most abundant around the Barron 
River. 
Grleiclienia circinata. A tall intricately branched fern found 
around swamps on sandy lands ; the underneath part of leaf of a 
pale color. Found in all the colonies except Western Australia. 
Pteris geraniifolia. A very pretty tufted fern. Leaves resem- 
bling those of the lobed leaved geranium or vine, two to six inches 
high, stalks dark, as are also the main veins of the leaf. This 
