134 
DR JOHN M'LEAN THOMPSON ON 
asserting that Stromatopteris was a genus distinct from Gleichenia, the author judged 
entirely by a character which Mettenius had not considered of paramount importance. 
Relying on leaf-form alone, Fournier divided the Gleicheniaceae of Robert Brown into 
two genera, the first being Stromatopteris , Mett., with simply pinnate leaves , and the 
second Gleichenia , Smith, with dichotomously branched leaves. The true value of 
this distinction in systematic grouping may be more easily assessed when it is recalled 
that as early as 1810 Robert Brown had employed it in separating Platyzoma as a 
genus distinct from Gleichenia ( Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van 
Diemen, p. 160), but that in 1814 he had already discounted it as a generic distinction 
( General Remarks, Geographical and Systematic, on the Botany of Terra Australi- 
ensis : Misc. Bot. Works of Rt. Brown, vol. i, p. 59, Roy. Soc. Publications, 1866). 
The existence of a Gleicheniaceous plant bearing both simply pinnate and branched 
leaves is sufficient to discount the distinction set up by Fournier between Stromatop- 
teris and Gleichenia, and, as was pointed out by Bower in 1899 (“ Studies in the 
Morphology of Spore-producing Members,” Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, vol. 192, 
p. 32), both Platyzoma and Gleichenia circinata supply the demonstration. Gleichenia 
simplex itself is typically simply-pinnate, although its leaves are occasionally 
branched, and leaf-branching is common in such forms as Polypodium vulgare, Scolo- 
pendrium, Nephrodium molle, and Osmunda regalis. It is, in fact, recognised that 
the character on which Fournier relied in separating Stromatopteris from Gleichenia 
is not sufficiently distinctive to act as a generic criterion, and, as will be shown 
below, it is in' this case really valueless, for the leaves of Stromatopteris may 
occasionally be branched. It is, then, evident that Fournier’s observations neither 
strengthened nor weakened the conclusion arrived at by Mettenius. 
Regarding the discovery and habitat of Stromatopteris, Fournier merely stated 
that it had been collected by Vieillard and others in the folds of the ferruginous hills 
on the way to Canala ; and in 1874 (“Dispersion geographique des Fougeres de la 
Nouvelle Caledonie,” Ann. Sc. Nat., v, 19) he further stated that Stromatopteris 
was a genus peculiar to New Caledonia. 
In the Synopsis Filicum (Hk. and Bk.), 1874, 1883, this fern appeared as a 
Gleichenia, and as • the first species of the sub-genus Eugleichenia, under the 
name of G. Eugleichenia, moniliformis, Moore. The distinguishing features of the 
Eugleichenias here noted were, that the sori are solitary upon the apex of a veinlet, 
on the superior base of a lobe, and that the lobes of the pinnae are small and sub- 
orbicular. In the accompanying description of the species it was stated that the 
slender sub-stipiform axis was erect and branched, the unbranched leaves were some 
12 inches long, with tufted leaf-stalks and leathery fronds, deeply pinna tifid, and 
with numerous concave pinnae. The sori were described as solitary, and mixed with 
ferruginous hairs. A note was appended in recognition of the remarkable appearance 
of this species, but maintaining that the latter did not merit by itself generic rank. 
In emphasising this, and in merging Stromatopteris in Eugleichenia, Hooker and 
