Carse. — Ferns and Fern Allies of Mangonui County. 91 



In another form most of the pinnae are deeply incised or lobed in the 

 lower half, the upper half on each being normal. 



A very unusual form shows an abnormal development of secondary 

 pinnae. This is from a fair -sized plant with fronds about 6 ft. long. 

 Several of the pinnae were again pinnate. This, I think, is very unusual. 



In several of the Lomariae, especially in L. ccvpensis, there is a tendency 

 to irregularity in the fertile frond. In some one side of the frond is entirely 

 or almost entirely sterile, the other fertile ; or the fertile pinnae may be 

 partly fertile only, the base and extremity being sterile. 



In L. Fraseri, so far as I have seen, abnormal forms are rare. About a 

 month ago, however, I came across two specimens showing unusual growths. 

 In one the frond is bifurcated at the apex ; in the other most of the pinnae 

 for two-thirds of the frond from the base, and usually the apex of the frond, 

 are divided into 2-3 narrow toothed lobes, which are often again divided, 

 giving the fern a crested appearance. 



Doodia . 



Both D. medio, and />. caudata lend themselves to an almost endless variety 

 of forms, some of them so strange and fantastic that one is forced to believe 

 that nature was suffering from nightmare when she designed them. 



One very graceful form is a small variety, with stipes only about 1 in. 

 long, frond 4-9 hi., with pinnae |— Jin. long. In this form the lobes are 

 always much more sharply toothed — spinous, in fact — suggesting an 

 arrested juvenile form. 



The most ordinary abnormality is the forking of the elongated upper 

 section of the frond : not uncommonly one of these forks is again forked. 



In one specimen this forking is carried to an extraordinary degree, one 

 of the main forks being divided into 3 secondary branches, the other into 2. 

 On the same plant a frond has one of the forks divided into 4 branches, two 

 of which are again branched, but it is too much " mixed up " to show in a 

 drawing. 



In a curious state of I), caudata. not uncommon in a lowland forest near 

 Kaiataia, most of the fronds are more or less forked at the apex or pinnatelv 

 divided at the base. 



Aspleuiiiui. 



Many curious forms occur among some of the species of Asplenium. 



A. lucid inn is not infrequently forked at the apex of the frond or at the 

 extremities of the pinnae. A specimen I gathered near Kaitaia nearly 

 thirty years ago has a curious thumb-like projection from the upper sides 

 of the bases of the pinnae in the middle, of the frond. 



A persistent juvenile form of variety obliquum occurs. The fronds are 

 simple, resembling miniature specimens of the hart's tongue of the Northern 

 Hemisphere (Scolopendrium)', this is probably a depauperated state, but 

 it lasts for years, and produces spores readily. 



In a very unusual form almost every pinna is deeply lobed or 

 incised, often almost symmetrically. On the same plant were fronds almost 

 normal, but no frond was without two or three at least more or less lobed 

 pinnae. 



From the same locality, near Ahipara, I got numerous specimens in which 

 in place of fairly regular lobes the pinnae are mostly deeply and irregularly 

 notched or lacerated, looking almost as though the cat had been at them, 

 but the clear margins show that this is a natural growth. 



