44 
The Queensland Naturalist May, 1943 
the far north. It is distinguished from C. Rebeccae mainly 
by the lower pinnae of the fronds being changed into a 
rigid, fibrous growth. These growths on the bases of the 
stalks, which are somewhat appressed to the trunk, have 
the appearance of a wig, hence the local name. 
7. C. Robertsiana, Slender Tree-fern. 
A northern species that apparently prefers mountain 
rain-forest such as on Bellenden-Ker, Mt. Spurgeon, Rock- 
ingham Bay, etc. This is a small dainty tree-fern with a 
very slender trunk 10-12 feet high. Fronds more delicate 
than in any of the foregoing species, not forming a regu- 
lar crown, but rather distant along the stem, tripinnate, 
of thin texture, pale green in colour and sprinkled with 
short soft hairs on both surfaces; primary pinnae 1J-2 feet 
long, 4-8 inches wide; secondary pinnae 2-4 inches long 
and i-1 inch wide, the axis narrowly winged ; tertiary pin- 
nae i-% inch long and about 1/8 inch wide, finely divided 
into tiny toothed lobes. Sori or spore-masses one to each 
lobe, forming a row on each side of the tertiary pinnae, 
with fine spreading hairs radiating beneath them. 
DICKSONIA. 
Key to the Species. 
Indusium 1mm. in diameter D. antarctica 
Indusium 2mm. in diameter D. Youngiae 
D . antarctica , Woolly Tree-fern or Soft Tree-fern. 
Figs. 4 and 5. 
This is a common tree-fern in South-eastern Queens- 
land. It has not been found north of the Bunya Moun- 
tains, but extends to New South Wales and Victoria. The 
trunk is stout and covered with coarse matted rootlets. 
Specimens seen in this State are not very large, the trunks 
being only about 10-15 feet high and the crown having a 
diameter of 10-12 feet, though in the south it is said to 
attain 50 feet in height. 
In the more open scrub or in rain-forest clearings this 
species frequently forms dense groves in gullies and along 
creek banks. The trunks are often thicker at the top than 
near the ground, and in the denser rain-forest have a 
