126 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
Orchids,’’ Orchis morio l., the ‘‘Marsh Orchis,’’ O. lati- 
folia L., and the ‘‘Green Winged Orehis,’’ all of which 
are known as false nectar flowers. They produce spurs 
which mimie¢ nectaries, though they contain no honey, and 
are visited by honey-eating flies. 
MISCELLANEOUS BOTANICAL NOTES. 
By A. A. Haminton. 
ASPLENIUM ADIANTOIDES (L.) CHR. A SPLEENWORT.— 
A. graceful fern, which, in the Brush Forests of the 
Southern Illawarra, frequently produces fronds from its 
tufted crown from 4 to 5 feet long, with the black, glossy 
stem and midrib, which we usually associate with the 
““Maiden-hair’’ fern (Adiantum), a character evidently 
noted by the author of the species, and adopted by him 
when naming it. Among other characters used in the 
classification of ferns (Filices), the manner in which the 
Spore cases (sporangia) are collected in clusters (sori), the 
shapes in which the clusters are arranged, and their dis- 
position on the fronds are important factors. In the com- 
mon Bracken-fern, Pteridium aquilinum (better known 
under its old name, Pteris aquilina), the sori are merged 
into each other, and form a continuous line along the mar- 
gin of the frond. In the Maidenhair group the sporangia 
are enclosed in little pockets, which border the margin 
of the frond, in some species protruding beyond it. In 
several genera, including many of the ‘‘Tree-ferns,’’ the 
sori are arranged in orbicular groups, and in the genus 
Platycerium, the clusters of sori become confluent and 
form large patches either on the points of the fronds, as 
in P. bifurcatum (Cav.)Chr., the ‘“‘Elk’s-horn,’’ or on the 
broad part of the frond underneath the gap (sinus), be- 
tween the points, in P. grande (A. Cunn), Sm., the “‘Stag’s- 
horn.’’ The typical Australian representative of the 
“‘Spleenworts”’ is the ‘‘Bird’s nest’’ fern, Asplenium nidus 
L., whose sori, running in narrow elongated parallel lines 
(linear), at right angles to the midrib, will be at once 
recalled. The species of this genus diverge from the type 
by gradually shortening and broadening the lines of sori 
until they become oblong, and in some species oval, and 
their direction from the midrib passes from the typical 
right angle, to (in extreme cases) an acute angle. One 
of the ‘“‘Spleenworts,’? A. maximum Don., a common Pa- 
cific Island fern (it grows also on the Northern Rivers 
