CoLENSO. — On neiv Netv Zealand Ferns. 395 



tip acuminate ; rhachis slender, flattish, reddish, deeply sul- 

 cated above ; pinnules extending close to rhachis, 2-3 at base 

 a little shortened. Pinnules Sin. long, fin. broad, linear, tips 

 very acuminate acute, shortly stipitate, pinnatifid, cut almost 

 to costa, subpectinate, rather distant ^in. apart, free, alternate, 

 spreading, horizontal ; lobes alternate, remote, free falcate, 

 semisubulate, tips acuminate, acute, margins recurved, plain, 

 slightly serrulate towards apex. Veins pinnate, distant, very 

 clear ; veinlets forked and* triple, when triple the lower one is 

 invariably single, the upper forked. Sori small globular, regular 

 near costa on forks of veinlets, usually 2 on a lobe one on each 

 side of vein, and 4-5 (rarely 6) on lowest basal lobes. Invo- 

 lucre a very small concave greyish scale on the posterior side, 

 margin entire ; veins much coarsely reticulated, black (under 

 lens). 



JHah. On the side of a precipitous gully overhanging a small 

 streamlet, in a forest south of Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 

 January, 1889 : W. C. 



Obs. This species is very distinct from those New Zealand 

 species already described,''' apparent at first sight. Unfor- 

 tunately I have not obtained complete specimens, or, rather, 

 what I have are partial and young, though perfect in them- 

 selves. This fern has a little history : I was returning one even- 

 ing rather late and tired from my usual botanizing excursion 

 during a hot day at midsummer, when on nearing the edge of 

 a deep gully I noticed two tree-ferns overhanging it. From 

 their appearance I thought them different from others, and I 

 exerted myself to secure portions of their fronds for examina- 

 tion. Being higher than myself, with fallen trees and broken 

 branches around, I could scarcely get at them ; moreover, on 

 the side towards me their fronds had been broken off short, 

 as if by a falling tree ; so I only brought away tips of fronds 

 (8in.-10in.), and perfect full-size barren pinnse from about the 

 middle of a frond, and young pinnae from newly-developed 

 immature fronds bearing fruit ; and when I next visited that 

 spot (purposely, I may say) I found it had been ravaged by 

 fire (a too common thing in those woods), and those two 

 tree-ferns were consumed. I have since assiduously sought 

 another specimen in my frequent visits to those forests, but 

 without success. 



Genus 5. Hymenophyllum, Smith. 

 1. H. loolycliilnm, sp. nov. 



Plant terrestrial ; rhizome subterranean, shortly creeping, 

 naked, its rootlets very hairy ; hairs dark-red, patent, often 



* H. smithii. Hook, (described as Cyathca smithii, Flora N. Zealand), 

 and H. (Amphicosmia) stellulata, Col., Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xviii., p. 222. 



