Adiantum. | FILICES. 961 
3-6 in. broad, oblong to oblong-ovate or oblong-deltoid, erect or 
drooping, pale-green, very thin and membranous, flaccid, quite 
glabrous, 3-4-pinnate; rhachis very slender, almost capillary, 
flexuous, polished. Lower pinnz 2-4 in. long, ovate-deltoid. Pin- 
nules on rather long and slender petioles, not dimidiate, +1 in. long, 
often broader than long, variable in shape, usually suborbicular with 
a more or less cuneate base, upper margin broadly and shallowly 
lobed. Pinnules of barren fronds often larger, entire or obscurely 
lobed. Sori 2-6 to a pinnule, placed in the notches or sinuses 
between the lobes. Indusium rather large, reniform or transversely 
oblong, pale.—Hook. Sp. Fu. ii. 37, t. 774; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. 
li. 21; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 360; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. 128; 
Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 724; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 54; Field, N.Z. 
Ferns, 83, t. 17, f. 1. A. assimile, Swartz, Syn. Fl. 125, 322 ; 
Raoul, Choiz, 38. A. trigonum, Labill. Pl. Nov. Holl. ui. 99, t. 
248; Raoul, Choix, 38. 
Nort Istanp: Plentiful in lowland districts from the North Cape to the 
Thames and Waikato Rivers, from thence rare and local to Hawke’s Bay 
(Colenso !) and Taranaki (H. C. Field!). Sourn Isuanp: Has been reported 
from Nelson and Canterbury, but I have seen no specimens. 
An abundant fern in most tropical and subtropical countries. 
2. A. diaphanum, Blume, Hnum. Fil. Jav. 215.—Rhizome very 
short, tufted; rootlets long, fibrous, densely tomentose, bearing 
numerous small oblong tubers. Stipes 2-6in. long, very slender, 
almost capillary, wiry, glabrous or slightly scaly towards the base, 
dark purplish-brown or almost black. Fronds 3-6 in. long, rarely 
more, simply pinnate, or with 1-2 branches at the base which are 
sometimes almost as long as the central portion but usually much 
shorter, thin and membranous, flaccid, dark-green; branches 4-1 in. 
diam. Pinnules numerous, shortly petiolate, 4-4in. long, about 
1in. deep, dimidiate-oblong ; lower margin straight or more or less 
decurved, entire; upper margin about parallel, and together with 
the rounded apex deeply crenate-toothed; surfaces sparingly 
setulose with minute stiff black hairs. Sori 4-8 to a pinnule, rarely 
more, placed in the notches of the upper and outer margins. In- 
dusium reniform, pale, minutely setulose.—Hook. Sp. Fil. u. 10, 
t. 80c; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. 117; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 53; 
Field, N.Z. Ferns, 80, t. 13, f. 5. A. affine, Hook. Sp. Fil. ii. 32 ; 
Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. 1. 20; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 360 (not of Willd.). 
A. setulosum, J. Sm. in. Bot. Mag. Comp. (1846) 22. 
Var. polymorphum, Checsem.—Fronds smaller, pale-green, usually simply 
pinnate, rarely branched at the base. Surfaces of the pinnz and indusia quite 
glabrous.—A. polymorphum, Col. im Trans, N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 215. A. 
tuberosum, Col. l.c. 217. 
KerMADEC IstaAnps, NorrH Isntanp: Not uncommon in woods at low 
elevations, usually in rich alluvial soils) SourH Istanp: Apparently rare and 
31— FI, 
