2 14 Transactions. — Botany. 



IV. Mr. Norton informs me, by letter, that he has seen 

 specimens of this fern in its native habitat "8-10 feet long ;" 

 and I also find from him that it is impatient of cold, " dying 

 down in the winter;" owing, no doubt, to its more delicate 

 membranaceous fronds, a character which is also rare in this 

 genus. 



Genus 4. Dicksonia, L'Heretier. 

 § Eudicksonia. 

 1. D. vricrocarpa, sp. nov. 



Plant arborescent, caudex erect, 6-7 feet high, stout, 1 foot 

 diameter, pretty nearly equal throughout, the outside composed 

 of a closely compacted mass of fine brown rootlets, their surface 

 even not shaggy nor ragged ; at the upper portion under the 

 crown of living fronds are the remains of a few old broken 

 stipites. Fronds 30 or more, patent, a little drooping with their 

 tips generally upcurved, sub-tripinnate, narrow lanceolate, 4£ 

 feet long including short stipes, 1 foot broad at the widest part, 

 sub-membranaceous-coriaceous, glabrous and somewhat glossy 

 on upper surface, grass-green above, paler below ; rhachis and 

 sub-rhachises very hairy on both surfaces ; hairs short, weak, 

 flexuous, jointed, sub-glandular, brownish-grey. Stipes short, 

 2-3 inches long, succulent, very hairy ; hairs dense, 1£ inches 

 long, patent, fine, jointed, glossy, red. Pinna? 45 -48-jugate, 

 alternate, sub-ovate-lanceolate, 5-6 inches long, l£- 1£ inches 

 wide, very acuminate, tips exceedingly long and slender, re- 

 curved, falcate, the middle ones close about 1 inch apart on 

 rhachis, overlapping, the apical free, narrow, and simple, the 

 ultimate pinna very long, narrow, and serrate, the basal pinna? 

 distant, small, decreasing gradually in size to base. Pinnules 

 close, not crowded, symmetrical, attenuate, the lower pair over- 

 lapping rhachis above, sub-linear-lanceolate, acuminate, acute, 

 f inch long, broadest at base, and there £ inch wide ; the mid- 

 rib hairy half-way from base. Segments 8-jugate, small, sub- 

 ovate-deltoid, serrate, acute, 1-2 lower pairs pinnate, petioluiate, 

 midrib flexuous, margins recurved when dry. Veins few, pro- 

 minent below, pinnate, generally 3 pairs (sometimes 4 on one 

 side), simple, rarely forked, red, translucent. Sori small, glo- 

 bose, biseriate, usually 4 on the larger segments at tips of veins, 

 sometimes 3, 2, or only 1, extending to the utmost tips of pin- 

 nules and pinna? ; capsules shortly pedicelled, the joints of the 

 ring very prominent, close, and dark-coloured; sporules bright- 

 yellow, sub-orbicular-deltoid, obtuse. Involucre globular, 2- 

 valved ; the outer valve formed from apex of semifine of 

 segment, the margin scarious, thin ; the inner valve scarious ; 

 margins entire. 



Iiab. Forests south of Daimeverke, County of Waipawa 

 1887 : W.C. 



