Pteris.| FILICES. 973 
Kprmapec Is~tanps: Most abundant, McGillivray, T. F. C. Norra 
IsLAND: From the Three Kings Islands and the North Cape southwards to the 
Bay of Plenty, usually in shaded places near the sea, plentiful on the outlying 
islands, rare and local on the mainland. 
This is often confounded by fern-collectors with large states of P. macilenta 
var. pendula, but is an altogether different plant, with a coarser and stouter 
habit of growth, much-broader less-divided fronds, and usually long and narrow 
segments, with the venation more copiously anastomosing. It is also found in 
Australia, Tasmania, and the Pacific islands. 
5. P. macilenta, A. Rich. Fl. Nowv. Zel. 82, t. 11.—Rhizome 
very short, suberect, clothed with the bases of the old stipites. 
Stipes 6-12in. iong, pale yellow-brown, becoming darker towards 
the base, smooth or slightly scaly below. Fronds 1-3 ft. long, 
9-18 in. broad, broadly ovate or deltoid, membranous, flaccid, pale- 
green and glistening, quite glabrous, 2—3-pinnate ; rhachis smooth, 
stramineous. Primary pinne numerous, distant, the lower ones 
6-12 in. long, the upper gradually shorter; terminal pinna 1-3 in. 
long, acuminate, deeply pinnatifid. Secondary pinne stalked, 
those on the lower branches again pinnate, on the upper pinnatifid. 
Pinnules 1-2in. long, scattered, often remote, stalked, ovate or 
deltoid, cuneate at the base, pinnatifid, the terminal ones adnate 
and decurrent. Ultimate segments oblong or ovate, deeply and 
coarsely toothed or incised at the apex. Veins anastomosing along 
the costa, free elsewhere. Sori in the notches between the seg- 
ments, short, not nearly reaching the tips of the segments.—A. 
Cunn. Precur. n. 202; Raoul, Choiz, 38; Hook. Sp. Fil. ti. 219; 
Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 26; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 364; Hook. and Bak. 
Syn. Fil. 171; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 61; Field, N.Z. Ferns, 94, 
t. 7, f. 1. Litobrochia macilenta, Brack. Fil. U.S. Hapl. Haped. 
106. 
Var. pendula.—Not so finely divided. Terminal pinna larger, 3-5 in. long, 
often caudate. Pinnules larger, 2-24in. long, ovate, acuminate; segments 
longer and narrower.—P. pendula, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 218. 
NortH Istanp: Not uncommon throughout in dry woods. SovurH 
IstanpD: Nelson—Near Nelson, T. F. C.; Takaka, Kingsley. Marlborough— 
Buchanan. Also said to occur on Banks Peninsula and near Greymouth, but I 
have seen no specimens. 
6. P. incisa, Thunb. Fl. Cap. 733.—Rhizome long, creeping, 
rather slender, smooth, producing numerous scattered fronds. Stipes 
1-3 ft. high or more, stout, erect, smooth and glossy, yellow-brown 
or red-brown when mature, often glaucous when young, naked or 
slightly scabrous at the base. Fronds variable in size, 2—4 ft. long, 
broadly deltoid or ovate-deltoid to ovate-lanceolate, membranous 
when young, firm in age, quite smooth and glabrous, glaucous- 
green, 2-3-pinnate; rhachis pale chestnut-brown, smooth and 
polished. Primary pinne large, 6-12in. long or more, ovate- 
lanceolate, opposite or nearly so, rather distant, sessile, the opposite 
pairs often almost connate at the base, 2-pinnatifid or the uppermost 
