78 Transactions. 



1 1. Adiantum Linn. 



Of the six species of maidenhairs, Adiantum formosum alone is absent. 



A. aethiopicum Linn., the most delicately cut and graceful of the species 

 we have in New Zealand, is not uncommon in lowland situations, occurring 

 freely in places on ditch-banks and on margins of wet patches. 



A. diaphanum Blnme is also usually to be found in damp places, both 

 in lowland forests and among damp rocks in the higher forests. .Some- 

 times it is simply pinnate, or it may have 1-2 or rarely 3 branches in 

 addition to the main pinna. 



A. hispidulum Swartz is usually found on a rather dry slope or bank 

 of a dry ditch, often associated with Doodia media. In its young state the 

 frond has a delicate appearance, and is often bright red in colour ; in maturity 

 the frond is harsh and rigid in appearance, and dark green in colour. 



A. affine Willd. : this, or the larger form at least, is one of our hand- 

 somest ferns. The best-developed specimens are to be looked for in lowland 

 countrv, among shaded woods. In the larger forms the frond is divided 

 into two or three pairs of pinnae with a long terminal one, the lower pairs 

 usually being branched, so that the frond is really tripinnate or occasionally 

 4-pinnate. Smaller forms, often not more than 1-2 in. high, at times simply 

 pinnate, are found on dry rocks. 



A form with narrower and more acute pinnules occurs, in which the 

 secondary rachides are more or less pubescent. This is probably a connect- 

 ing-link with the next species. 



A. fulvum Raoul occurs plentifully in drier parts of the forest. It is 

 much more branched than A. affine, the fronds frequently being 4-pinnate. 



12. Hypolepis Bernh. 



Two of the three species (H. tenuifolia Bernh. and H. distant Hook.) 

 occur, and, while they are distributed throughout the district, neither is 

 at all common. 



H. tenuifolia is rather a puzzling plant, Owing not only to the varied 

 forms it assumes in different habitats, but also to its close resemblance to 

 Polypodium punctatum — a resemblance so close, indeed, that doubts have 

 been expressed as to whether the two ferns are not merely varying forms 

 of the one species. 



Technically, the distinctions are as follows : — 



Hypolepis. — Sorus placed on the sinuses between the teeth or lobes. 

 Indusium composed of the reflexed scale-like tip of a lobule of the frond. 



Polypodium. -Sorus close to the margin of the lobes, but not absolutely 

 on the margin. Indusium entirely absent. Rhachis and stipes distinctly 

 viscid-pubescent. 



When the characteristics above alluded to are well marked there is no 

 difficulty at all in distinguishing the two ferns ; but, except in the young 

 state, it is often difficult to detect the pseudo-involucre of Hypolepis. 

 Sometimes, however, it is but feebly developed, and occasionally it is 

 slightly developed in what, from the viscidity of the rhachis, is decidedly 

 a Poly podium. 



I have noted three chief forms of Hypolepis tenn (folia. In shaded 

 lowland woods, often on the bank of a small creek, and always in moist 

 soil, occurs the largest and handsomest form of all. The stipes is 1-4 ft. 

 high, the frond 2-4 ft. long, and broad in proportion. This I take to be 

 Cheilanthes pellucida Col. 



