CoLENso. — On some Neu- Zealand Ferns. 619 



longest ; segments cuneate, the terminal one large oblong, nmch 

 laciniate, midrib flexuous branched ; veins numerous, erecto- 

 patent, stout, dark-coloured, prominent on both sides, free, 

 venules marginal, sometimes forked at tips, excurrent, mucro- 

 nate-serrate ; rhachises sparingly hairy, not winged, but the 

 upper pinnae and pinnules slightly subpinnatifid above at 

 axils (snrsum currens), hairs long slender flexuous; stipe 

 lYin.-2in. long, firm, dry, slender, when young reddish and very 

 hairy, hairs 2-3 lines long curved dark-red, fugacious in age. 

 Involucre free, narrow infundibuliform, 1 line long, few, 

 solitary on inner' margin of segment, reddish ; mouth open, 

 thin, entire or slightly uneven, receptacle stout, sometimes 

 exserted as long as involucre. Ehizome short, stout, very 

 hairy ; hairs long, enwrapping, dark, coarse. Eoots stout, 

 black, numerous, descending. 



Hah. Country between lower Waikato (N.), head of 

 Thames, and Kaipara ; 1843-44 : \V. C. 



Obs. This species will rank with T. eloni/atnvi and T. 

 colensoi, but is very distinct from both. Its specific differential 

 characters are good, well defined, and constant ; in its pecu- 

 liar and strongly-marked venation and curiously-webbed axils 

 I know of no other species of the genus, nor of any other New 

 Zealand fern, that approaches it ; the cellular structure of the 

 frond is also peculiar, constituting regular and large areolae. 



Genus 13. Cheilanthes, 8w. 



1. C. erecta, sp. nov. 



Plant small, usually sub Gin. high (a single specimen 

 among many 8in.), tufted, erect, light-reddish-brown. Frond 

 linear (scarcely sublanceolate), obtuse, 3in.-3-|in. long, 6-8 

 lines broad ; rhachis red-brown, shining, sulcated ; stipe 

 2in.-2|-in. long, slender, brittle, glabrous, shining, light-brown, 

 slightly scaly, bipinnate or subtripinnate ; pinnae 8-10 pairs, 

 distant, opposite, deltoid and subtrapeziform, obtuse, patent 

 and suberect, diverging, thickish, flat, glabrous above, 

 densely paleaceous-scaly below ; veins few, free, dichotomous, 

 obsolete ; the lowermost pair of pinnae smaller than the next 

 and more distant (Im.) on rhachis; pinnules few, lowermost 

 pair pinnate, each one composed of 3 segments, the two basal 

 segments (or lobes) small roundish, the terminal one deltoid- 

 acuminate and subovate, obtuse ; upper segments (or lobes) 

 sessile, opposite, sub -oblong -ovate, falcate, obtuse; apical 

 segments of frond very small. Involucre narrow, membrana- 

 ceous, continuous, entire and slightly sinuate and finely cre- 

 nulate. Sori copious, pale, spreading. Scales long, sub-ovate- 

 acuminate, flat, thin, shining, striate, flexuous, spreading, 

 pale-brown, very close, sometimes entirely covering pinna 

 below. The pairs of pinna? have a peculiar regular 4-angled 



