BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 803 
named T. superba, grows on Tongariro; a single specimen is 
all I could obtain, and I send it. 
The arborescent Ferns attain a great size in New Zealand. 
Ilately observed a prostrate, though still living stem, perhaps 
of Cyathea medullaris, which measured 42 feet in length, as 
it lay; i.e. from the end of the trunk to the apex, exclusive 
of the petioles of its fronds. It had been recently felled by 
a native, who had lopped off its leafy honours; it had, how- 
ever, subsequently, while in that condition, shot out two new 
fronds. 
The pith of the C. medullaris is eaten by the New Zea- 
landers, and constitutes one of the best and most nutritive 
of all their indigenous articles of food. The fronds of this 
most graceful fern form a droop, often of 18 feet; and when 
seen to advantage, growing as it frequently does, singly, on 
the bank of a purling rill of delicious water, it presents such 
an object as may well entrance the beholder’s gaze. The 
main stalk seldom attains a great height, from 12 to 14 feet 
up to the springing of the petioles. 
Dicksonia squamosa, a truly stately fern, may often be 
seen in groups of from ten to forty, their average height 
from 6 to 10 feet. The Cyathea dealbata is the most light 
and airy of all our 7ree-ferns; recalling, in its general ap- 
pearance, those Palms which form so striking a character in 
Oriental scenery. At Owae, on the east coast, I once sent 
my little native lad, called * Ruru, to the top of a Cyathea, 
in order to ascertain its height. He gained the apex, and 
sate, rocking like a monkey, on the crown ; the line which he 
cast down I accurately measured, and found it to be more 
than 38 feet in length. An owl may often be seen, umbra- 
geously secluded from * Sol's glaring eye? perched on the 
petiole of one of its fronds. 
“ The * Para? of the natives is also a Tree-fern, and used 
to form one of their favourite articles of food, to which its 
present scarcity is probably now owing. It is apparently the 
Marattia elegans of Endlicher. It is remarkable for the 
joint-like process by which its frondlets are attached to the 
