74 Gwynne- Vaughan. — Observations on the 
excellent examples are to be found among the Ferns, more 
frequently perhaps than among any other class of plants. 
Finding that these plants have not yet been closely investi- 
gated with reference to this particular character, I have been 
occupied for some time in examining all those species pre- 
senting indications of solenostely that I have been able to 
obtain. In the course of these investigations some alcohol- 
material of Loxsoma Cunninghamii, R. Br., was placed at my 
disposal by Professor Bower, to whom it had been sent by 
Messrs. Thompson and Cheeseman from New Zealand. 
Hardly anything has hitherto been written upon the 
anatomy of this rare and interesting Fern, and since it obtains 
additional importance both on account of its isolated sys- 
tematic position and of its limited distribution, it would seem to 
deserve a somewhat detailed anatomical description. I have 
therefore ventured to devote a special part of this paper 
to that purpose, reserving for a second part the less detailed 
descriptions, and the more general results that may arise 
from the investigation of the other solenostelic Ferns that 
I have been able to examine. 
The history of the nomenclature of Loxsoma , and of the 
various opinions that have been held regarding its systematic 
position, has been summarized by Professor Bower 1 in his 
recent paper on the Leptosporangiate Ferns, so that by way 
of recapitulation it is only necessary to mention the few refer- 
ences to the anatomy that have been found in the literature. 
The first of these is made by Mettenius 2 in 1865, and is 
only a casual reference to the anatomy of the stem of Loxsoma 
as differing from that of the rest of the Hymenophyllaceae 
(with which he includes it) on account of its ‘ closed vascular 
bundle tube.’ He also notes that the root is diarch, and 
mentions a few facts relating to the venation. Russow 3 , 
1 The Morphology of Spore-producing Members ; iv. The Leptosporangiate 
Ferns ; Phil. Trans., vol. cxcii, p. 47, 1899. 
2 Uber die Hymenophyllaceae, Abhandl. d. K, Sachs. Gesellsch. d. Wiss., Bd. 
vii, pp. 41 5 and 418. 
3 Vergl. Untersuch. d. Leitbiindel-Krypt., Mem. de l’Acad. Imp. de St. P&ers- 
bourg, ser. vii, tome xix, p. 80, 1871. 
