Hamilton. — On New Zealand Ferns. 493 



O. pectinatus ; and afterwards it was found by myself at 

 Taupo and on the open summits of the Euahine Mountain- 

 range. A second New Zealand species, 0. stricius, Berggren, 

 was discovered by him near the Eiver Bealey, South Island, 

 and fully described, with admirable drawings and dissections, 

 in his book of " New Species of New Zealand Phsenogamous 

 Plants," 1877. Another species, 0. ohtnsangulus, Gaud., was 

 early discovered by him in the Falkland Islands. Small 

 though they all are, and in many respects very much alike, 

 yet they all possess good distinctive characters ; their study- 

 has afibx'ded me great pleasure. 



Art. 1j^.— Notes on some Neiu Zealand Ferns. 



By A. Hamilton. 



[Read hefore the Hmvkc's Bay Philosophical Institute, 8th June, 1889.] 



Through the kindness of Messrs. Pinckney and Eobinson, 

 of the Napier High School, I have the pleasure of bringing 

 before you this evening some interesting specimens of ferns 

 collected by them at Kuripapanga recently. The one of most 

 interest, and which is probably new to most of us, is the 

 second species of New Zealand Gymnogramme. 



Gymnogramme pozoi, Kunze, var. rutcsfolia, Br. 



Many years ago Mr. Colenso, in one of his journeys along 

 the coast to Wellington, found this little fern growing on the 

 cliffs near Cook Strait. For a long time this was the only 

 recorded locality in New Zealand, although the plant was 

 known to occur over Australia, Tasmania, and in the Pyrenees. 

 Within the last few years, however, it has been found in the 

 Southern Alps at an elevation of about 3,000ft., and described 

 by Mr. Potts, in vol. x., "Trans. N.Z. Inst.," as G. alpina, Potts. 

 He remarks, it is probably the most densely villous of all the 

 New Zealand Filices ; in its soft woolly texture and silvery- 

 grey colours it bears close resemblance to several plants from 

 alpine flora. Compared with G.pozoi, it lacks the membranous 

 texture of that rare fern, the fronds are crowded, the pinnaB 

 far less distant. 



The other specimens are forms of As2')lenmm colensoi and 

 A. Jiookerianum, but of very lax growth, and certainly worthy 

 of description as varieties. 



