448 Transactions. — Botany. 



Akt. LYI. — Notice of the Discovery of Asplenium japoni- 

 cmn, a Fern new to the New Zealand Flora. 



Bv T. F. Cheesemax, F.L.S., Curator of the Auckland 



Museum. 



[Bead before the Auckland Institute, lyth August, 1889. \ 



So many people take an interest in the ferns of New Zea- 

 land, either as collectors or cultivators, that no apology is 

 needed for bringing the discovery of an additional species 

 under the notice of the Institute. Eather more than a year 

 ago Miss Clarke, of Waimate, Bay of Islands, sent for my 

 examination a parcel of specimens of a fern new to her, and 

 which she believed to be new to New Zealand. In this she 

 was perfectly correct, the fern proving to be As'plcnvnm jaiKmi- 

 cuni, a species common enough in man}^ tropical and subtropi- 

 cal countries, but not previously known from New Zealand 

 proper, although in August, 1889, I gathered specimens in a 

 locality as near to us as the Kermadec Islands. 



Through the kindness of the Eev. Philip Walsh, of Wai- 

 mate, Bay of Islands, I have obtained some information 

 respecting the locality in which the fern was found. It formed 

 a patch about 40ft. square in some damp and stony ground 

 on the banks of the Okura Eiver, a branch of the Kerikeri 

 Eiver. The vegetation in the immediate vicinity was chiefly 

 comi30sed of tall tea-tree {Leptos^icrmwii) , and no plants of 

 any special interest besides the Asplenium were noticed. The 

 neighbourhood was searched for some distance, but no addi- 

 tional specimens were observed. 



Asplenium japonic iini belongs to the sub-genus Diplazimn, 

 hitherto believed to have no representatives in New Zealand. 

 None of the specimens sent to me by Miss Clarke exceeds 18in. 

 in height, and most of them are much smaller. In colour and 

 texture there is some resemblance to Aspleniuvi iimbrosnm, 

 but that is a much larger fern, with a differently-divided frond. 

 It is quite unlike all the other New Zealand species, and will 

 be recognized w^ith ease should it be found in other localities 

 in the north of the colony, as is not improbable. The follow- 

 ing description is drawn up from Miss Cltirke's specimens : — 



Ehizome slender, apparently long and creeping. Stipes 

 slendei-, pale, with a few chaffy scales at its base, 4in.-8in. 

 long. Frond Gin.-9in. long, 8in.-5in. broad, ovate-lanceolate, 

 pinnate at the base, pinnatifid towards the top ; pinnse fin. 

 broad, cut down nearly to the rachis in the lower part ; lobes 

 oblong, rounded, toothed ; texture herbaceous. Veins 3-6 to 

 a lobe on each side, usually all soriferous. Sori occasionally 

 diplazoid. 



