40 
AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 
Polypodium australe Mett. 
Polypodium australe Mett. Polyp. (1857), p. 36; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. FI. (1864), 
p. 380; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. FI. (1906), p. 1010, and Subantarct. Islands of N.Z. 
11 (1909), p. 442. Grammitis australis R.Br. Prodr. (1810), p. 146; Hook. f. FI. 
Antarct. I (1844), p. Ill; Homb. and Jacq. Voy. an Pole Sud Crypt. (1853), t. 2, 
fig. Gf. Grammitis Billardieri Willd. Sp. Plant. V (1810), p. 139. G. rigida Homb. 
and Jacq., l.c. t. 2, fig. F. G. humilis Homb. and Jacq., l.c. t. 2, fig. H. 
Macquarie Island :—Not uncommon, ascending to the tops of the hills. Scott 
(1880); A. Hamilton (1894); H. Hamilton (1912-1913). 
Polypodium australe was first collected on Macquarie Island by Dr. Scott in 
1880. He remarks that “ my specimens show an extremely alpine form.” It was 
gathered again by A. Hamilton in 1894, who also draws attention to its small size, 
“ about J inch long,” and further states that it was plentiful on the top of the convex 
masses of Azorella growing on the higher parts of the island. The more recent 
specimens obtained by H. Hamilton are also of small size. They evidently correspond 
with the Grammitis humilis of Hombron and Jacquinot’s “Voyage au Pole Sud,” 
gathered on Auckland Island in 1840, when he also collected the much larger G. rigida, 
and the intermediate G. australis R. Brown. Sir J. D. Hooker, in the Flora Antarctica, 
reduced all three to G. australis, remarking “ That a copious suite of specimens, 
collected at different levels from the sea to an altitude of 1,400 feet, prove all the three 
species figured by MM. Hombron and Jacquinot to belong to states of one plant.” 
The same great difference also occurs in New Zealand, and Armstrong’s G. pumila is 
very near to, if not identical with the Macquarie Island plant. At the same time, I 
must confess that I am inclined to doubt the specific identity of the whole of the forms 
at present “ lumped” under the name of Polypodium australe, or Grammitis australis . 
which appears to be the more fashionable title at the present time. 
Polypodium australe has a wide range. In addition to the whole of the islands 
to the south of New Zealand and New Zealand proper, it occurs in many parts of 
Australia and Tasmania, and is not uncommon in Fuegia and Falkland Islands. It 
has also been recorded from Kerguelen Island, Marion Island, and from Tristan 
d’Acunha and Amsterdam Island. 
LYCOPODIACEiE. 
Lycopodium varium R.Br. 
Lycopodium varium R.Br. Prodr. (1810), p. 165; Hook. f. FI. Antarct. 1 (1844), p. 115, 
also FI. Nov. Zel. II (1853), p. 52, and FI. Tasm. II (1860), p. 155, t. 170, and 
Handbk. N.Z. FI. (1864), p. 389; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. FI. (1906), p. 1035, also 
Subantarct. Islands of N.Z. II (1909), p. 444. 
Macquarie Island :—A. Hamilton (1894); H. Hamilton (1912-1914). 
