395 THE FERNS OF LORD HOWE ISLAND. By the Rev. W. Walter Watts. {(Joraniunicattd by J . II. Maiden.) Dui'ing a stay of nearly two months on Lord Howe Island — July to August, 1911 — I endeavoured to collect specimens of all the ferns growing in so rich a botanical field. A few of the species I found to be plentiful in the more accessible parts of the Island, while others, such as those on Mount Gower, could only be secured after some stiff climbing. Among the ferns that are fairly common near the residen-tial parts of the Island, are Asplttviiim lucidum Forst., Poly ■podium pustulatwin Forst., Pttris comans Forst., and Hypo-Icpis tenuifolia Bernh. On the northern hills, growing in fair profusion, I found Aspleniuin iiidu.s L. In general appearance, it seemed to me to differ from the Australian form. Growing mostly on the ground, or in soil among rocks (never on trees), it looked, at a distance, like a large lily. On the eastern slope, below the "Look-out," the fronds tended towards a crinkled form tUat it was impossible to press evenly. But the variations can probably be nearly all matched in New South Wales. I looked carefully for anything approaching Asphinuni Kohin-sonii (of Norfolk Island), which Mr. E. King claims to have found (and unfortunately lost), on the eastern slopes of Mt. Gower, but without success. The northern hills provided also L'cllaa falcata Fee, Cyclo-phorux roiiflueni< (R.Br.) Chr., Asplemum adiautoidcs (L.) Chr., (.1. falcaturn Lam.), Adiantum hispidulum Sw., Poly-podittm fenellum Forst., Plat y cerium alcicorne Desv., J\ othn-ht'ua d'i.<taiis R.Br. One specimen of Asjjlenium adiontoides, collected near the "Look-out," varied from the type in the pinnje being divided almost to the rhachis. 38
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