90 Transactions. 



branched, thus having 4 pinnae. Occasionally, too, the pinnae are bi- 

 furcated at the top. A curious form of this species collected by the late 

 Mr. Andrew Thompson, at Motatau, has quite a compound frond, resembling 

 a small form of A. affine. 



A. kispidulum is usually dichotomously forked at the base of the frond, 

 both forks being divided into 3-7 linear secondary divisions. Occasionally 

 one or more of these divisions have small pinnate branches. The . most 

 curious form I have seen, and that only twice among hundreds of plants 

 examined, has, instead of simple pinnules on the main branches of the 

 secondary divisions, distinctly pinnate branchlets, giving to the plant quite 

 a different appearance from its usual form. 



An unusually luxuriant specimen of A. fulvum gathered near Pukekohe 

 is distinctly 5-pinnate. This species is " 2-3-pinnate or rarely in large 

 specimens 4-pinnate at the base " (Manual, p. 964). 



A form occurs which seems to be intermediate between A. affine and 

 A. fulvum, having some of the characteristics of each. 



Pellaea. 



Some time ago I collected a very curious form of Pellaea. Some of 

 the fronds are very similar to ordinary forms of P. rotundifolia, except that 

 the sori are continuous round the margin ; but other fronds from the same 

 plant have pinnae of very unusual shapes, with curious lobes, two at least 

 of them being bifidly cleft. The sori of these are all continuous. This 

 is perhaps an intermediate form, between P. falcata and P. rotundifolia. 



Pteris. 



I have not noticed many abnormal forms in this family ; still, there are 

 a few. 



In P. aquilina there is a curious form occasionally seen in barren land. 

 The frond, including the stipes, is 4-12 in. high. The lower pinnae are 

 again pinnate for one-third of their length; the rest of them and the 

 whole of the upper pinnae consist of linear obtuse segments 2-4 in. long, 

 crenately lobed almost to the extremity. A very curious form has the 

 segments of the primary and secondary pinnae curved, once or twice 

 forked, ending abruptly or elongated beyond the others, giving the whole 

 plant a very eccentric appearance. 



I have also a form of P. tremula showing similar aberrations in the ulti- 

 mate pinnae only. 



Lomaria. 



L. discolor: "The fronds are. frequently forked at the top, and a 

 beautiful sport is in cultivation in which the pinnae are greatly expanded 

 in the upper two-thirds of their length, and deeply pinnatified" (Manual, 

 p. 977). I have not seen this. 



L. lanceolata is occasionally forked at the apex of the frond. 



L. capensis is the species which, owing doubtless to its variety of forms, 

 exhibits the greatest number of abnormal forms. 



The most common variations from the normal are those showing the 

 upper part of the frond or the tips of the pinnae dichotomously divided. 



I have met with one form with the ends of the pinnae curiously toothed, 

 so that at first glance one would think it had been bitten by grubs or beetles, 

 but a closer examination shows that the curious toothed lobes are quite 

 natural. 



