320 Transactions. — Botany. 



surfaces, some pinnae are nearly black, glaucescent below, 

 usually bipinnate and tripinnate, generally 3 sometimes 

 4 rarely 5-6 branches long curved pinnate ; pinnules alter- 

 nate, rather distant, patent on long filiform petioles, mostly 

 small, of various shapes and sizes on the same plant, broadly 

 cuneate, parallelogrammiform, roundish-oblong, suborbicular 

 and subrhomboid, 2-3 lines long rarely 4-5, gradually de- 

 creasing in size to tips, the upper pinnules close and very 

 small, the ultimate one rhomboidal obtuse ; the lower margin 

 (or sometimes 2 margins) being the continuation of petiole 

 always thickened straight even glossy and coloured; the 

 upper margins cartilaginous laciniate and serrate, teeth large 

 white hard and sharp ; veins numerous, close, free, much 

 dichotomously and flabellately branched, several pairs rising 

 and spreading from a single basal vein, and all subradiating 

 from the petiole or lower basal angle. Sori few but of a large 

 size and very prominent far beyond margin of involucre, on 

 the lobules and not in the notches of the pinnules. Involucres 

 brown shining (black in age), rather large, their margins 

 gaping elevated, generally 5-7, sometimes 9, on the larger 

 pinnules, on the upper margin and partly extending round 

 the outer or tip ; smaller and very close together on the 

 small, and only 1, 2, or 3 on the smallest pinnules; sinus 

 deep ; when young, however, they are very thin white and 

 crisp, or crumpled. 



Hah. Open land, damp shaded spots rocky places, between 

 Dannevirke and the East Coast, County of Waipawa ; 1892 : 

 Mr. E. Hill. 



Obs. I. This fern has given me much extra labour, from 

 its possessing some of the common characters of A. cunning - 

 hamii, Hook. (A. affine of some modern writers on ferns; but 

 qua.), and of other allied species (particularly A. lietcrophylhim, 

 Col., Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xx., p. 218); but (as I fortu- 

 nately possess a large number of specimens of all sizes, through 

 the liberality of its kind discoverer) I believe it to be very 

 distinct as a species. Those " common characters " pertain 

 more or less to all that sub-family of Adiantivm, most of the 

 species also being exotic. Of this fern, its manner of growth, 

 its black filiform stipes (indeed, the almost general blackish 

 colour of the whole plant), its large black and shining scales, 

 its small and variously-shaped pinnules, and, above all, their 

 laciniate and sharply serrate margins, with compound and 

 radiating veins and venules, afford good and constant cha- 

 racters. 



II. I have not infrequently met with, and possess, dwarf 

 specimens of A. cunninghamii (some being little pigmies), as 

 well as extra-large ones, but these do not contain the peculiar 

 and distinctive characters of this fern. 



