CoLENso. — 0)1 some Neiu Ferns. 417 



(also on rachis and subrachises). Frond erect, slightly droop- 

 ing and spreading, 2ft. Sin. -2ft. 6iu. long, 7in.-9in. wide at 

 middle, sublinear - lanceolate, base abruptly truncate, tip 

 narrow, very acuminate ; bipinnate, bright-green above, paler 

 below, glabrous, flaccid, fresh, chartaceous when dry ; pinnae 

 horizontal, alternate and subopposite above, very close but 

 not imbricate, sublinear-lanceolate, base truncate, 4in.-5in. 

 long, 9-12 lines wide at middle of frond; tips sharply 

 acuminate, subcaudate, finely serrate, 5-6 pairs below opposite 

 and gradually decreasing in size and falcate, the lower 

 2-1 pairs much deflexed. Pinnules numerous (17-18 jugate), 

 patent very regular, petiolate, alternate, free rather distant, 

 striate when dry, subrhombic- triangular, sometimes sub- 

 trapeziforra, and again in other fronds somewhat parallelo- 

 grammatic, but always truncate at lower base excised 

 dimidiate, sharply and closely serrate above and below on two 

 principal sides ; tips produced sharply acuminate aristate ; 

 margins thickened darker green and slightly incurved ; the 

 lowest pair of pinnules on pinna much larger, pinnatifid, 

 6-7-lobed, reclining on rachis and meeting above on upper 

 side concealing it, the lowest pinnule largest, pinnate or 

 trifoliolate ; veins pinnate. Sori very small, distant, biserial, 

 usually six on a pinnule, sometimes seven on the larger ones 

 but rarely, situate on middle of inner veinlet nearer costa 

 than margin, on a small dark oval half-punctured tubercle in 

 pinnule ; involucre small, bright-brown, orbicular, laciniate, 

 much stipitate and soon possessing an everted obconical shape 

 resembling an umbrella blown inside out. Scales of various 

 shapes and sizes : (1) Large, lin.-ljin. long, 1 line wide at 

 base, subulate, tip much acuminate and filiform, glossy, 

 striate, curly, with a rich dark brown-black centre and broad 

 pale margins ; margin entire and minutely crisped ; (2) smaller, 

 thinner, subulate, -|-in.— |in. long, light-brown ; (3) filiform, 

 hair-like, reddish, with large branched spreading root-like 

 bases. 



Hah. Forests south-west from Dannevirke ; 1896 : W. C. 



Obs. This handsome fern is allied to our well-known New 

 Zealand fern Aspidmm aculeatum, Sw., var. vestitum, 

 Hooker ; but I believe (after a prolonged and careful examina- 

 tion) differs from that fern — and from others also, its near 

 allies, A. aculeatum, A. lohatum, A. intermedium, ai:id A. annu- 

 lare — in several characters. J possess first-class botanical 

 drawings of all of them, with descriptions, in Hooker's 

 " British Ferns." A particularly fine plate of Aspidium 

 aculeatum, with dissections, is also given in Beddome's 

 "Ferns of South India," tab. 121. In Aspidium aculeatum 

 the pinnte want the lowest pinnule below on costa (and so in 

 all its allies, supra, including var. vestitum of Hooker), which 

 27 



