Colenso. — On Cryptogams. 323 



2. L. procera, var. gracilis, Col. 



Plant tufted, erect, very slender ; roots numerous, bushy, 

 densely and finely hairy ; hairs red. Barren fronds subereci 

 and drooping, 9 in number from 1 rootstock, of various lengths, 

 4in.-8in. long, l-§in.-2in. wide, linear-lanceolate, pinnate; 

 stipe 2in., almost filiform, pale-reddish, dry, sulcate above, very 

 slightly scaly ; pinnae very thin, pale-green, alternate, few, 7 

 on each side of rhachis in longest specimen and 4 on short 

 ones, sub-linear-elliptic, the longest lin. long and 4 lines wide, 

 patent and slightly falcate, subacute and obtuse, midrib very 

 narrow, deeply channelled above with raised edges, margins 

 sharply serrulate the teeth curved upwards and long, and 

 close at tips, dimidiate, base truncate, the upper half more so, 

 petiolate, petioles short very slender, fin. -lin. distant on 

 rhachis, upper pinnae subsessile, acute, the lower half decurrent, 

 apical lobe linear-ovate acuminate, Hin. long, the lowermost 

 pinnae very small, suborbicular, 3-4 lines diameter ; veins 

 simple, rarely forked. Fertile frond erect, pinnate, lOin. long, 

 2-Jin. wide ; stipe 6in., much stouter than in the barren fronds 

 but not 1 line wide, red, glabrous; pinnae alternate distant, 

 6 on each side of rhachis, very narrow-linear, lin. long, j^m- 

 wide, sessile and decurrent, the lower pinnae l^in. distant on 

 rhachis, the upper 3 pairs closer, apical lobe l^in. long, the 

 lower fruiting pair of pinnae subsessile, and the lowermost pair 

 of pinnas barren very small 4 lines long broadly ovate tips 

 rounded. Sori numerous, compact, dark-brown, not extending 

 to tips of pinnae, which are leafy 1-2 lines long, and so also 

 the lower fruiting pair at their bases. Involucre dark-brown, 

 subinvolute and adhering, very finely fringed throughout. 



Hab. Open margin of low w T ood, edge of great plain south 

 of Dannevirke, County of Waipawa ; 1892 ; scarce: W.G. 



Obs. I again visited that spot with difficulty, on recovering 

 slowly from illness, in the autumn of 1892, and managed to 

 bring away one entire and perfect plant, which looked sur- 

 passingly graceful in its sheltered home ; and, although prima 

 facie it seems so very different from all the (known) varieties 

 of L. procera, yet, on careful examination and comparison, I 

 am obliged to consider it to be but another variety of that 

 variable species. :;: Its striking points of difference are — its 

 slender, graceful, and neat appearance ; its few, thin, small, 

 distant, obtuse pinnas, with their finely-serrulate margins ; its 

 filiform and long stipes ; and its densely-hairy and red roots. 



* Sir J, D. Hooker, in his " Handbook of New Zealand Flora " (pub- 

 lished thirty years ago), gives four varieties, of which he says, "The 

 varieties enumerated keep their characters under cultivation." Some 

 of them both Cunningham and myself had considered to be good and 

 valid species, and to that number others have been added since. 



