Aspleniwwm. | FILICES. 989 
Fl. 371; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. 196; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 745 ; 
Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 73; Field, N.Z. Ferns, 115, t. 28, f. 8. A. mela- 
nolepis, Col. on Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 227. 
NorrH Istanp: Hawke’s Bay—Kaimanawa Mountains, Captain G. Mair! 
Petane, A. Hamilton! Puketapu, Colenso! Taranaki— Mount Egmont, 7. F’. C. 
Wellington—Tararua Range, Buchanan. Souru Isuanp: Not uncommon in 
mountainous localities throughout. Sea-level to 4000 ft. 
Widely distributed in the temperate regions of both hemispheres and on 
high mountains in the tropics. 
3. A. faleatum, Lam. Hncycl. ii. 306.—Rhizome short, stout, 
creeping, more or less clothed with dark-brown scales. Stipes 
6-12 in. long, dark-brown, firm, villous and paleaceous at the base 
and sgmetimes throughout. Fronds erect or pendulous, 1-3 ft. 
long or more, 3-7 in. broad, linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, 
acuminate, coriaceous, dark-green or brownish-green above, paler 
beneath, glabrous or deciduously paleaceous, pinnate; rhachis 
bristly with linear scales or almost glabrous. Pinne 12-265 pairs, 
spreading, stipitate, 14-4in. long, $-lin. broad, lanceolate, finely 
acuminate, obliquely cuneate at the base, the upper edge broad and 
rounded or sometimes auricled, the lower edge excised, lobed or 
almost pinnatifid, lobes sharply incised. Veins distinct, close, 
erecto-patent, forked, the basal ones almost flabellate. Sori nume- 
rous, linear, obliquely diverging from the midrib, almost reaching 
the margin. Indusium narrow, membranous but firm.—d. Rich. F7. 
Nouv. Zel. 73; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 187; Raoul, Choixz, 37; Hook. 
Sp. Fil. iii. 160; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 372; Hook. and Bak. Syn. 
Fil. 208; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 746; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 74; 
Field, N.Z. Ferns, 117, t. 21, f. 5. A. polyodon, Forst. Prodr. n. 428 ; 
A. Cunn. Precur. n. 188; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ui. 34. A. Fors- 
terilanum, Col. in Tasmanian Journ. Nat. Sct. (1845) 11. 
NorrH anp SoutH IsnANDs, STEWART ISLAND, CHATHAM ISLANDS: From 
the North Cape southwards, not uncommon in woods, often pendulous from 
trees. Sea-level to 2000 ft. 
Also abundant in many parts of tropical Asia and Africa, the Pacific islands, 
and Australia. Very variable in the size and shape of the pinne, and the extent 
to which they are lobed and cut. 
4. A. caudatum, Jorst. Prodr. n. 432.—Rhizome short, creep- 
ing, clothed with dark-brown linear scales. Stipes 6-9in. long, 
densely clothed with fibrillose scales or almost naked. Trond 
1-2 ft. long, 83-8in. broad, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acumi- 
nate, coriaceous, dark-green, glabrous or deciduously villous, pinnate ; 
rhachis bristly or almost glabrous. Pinnze 15-30 pairs, spreading, 
stipitate, 14-4 in. long, }-3in. broad, narrow-lanceolate, narrowed 
into a long acuminate point, obliquely cuneate at the base, the upper 
edge rounded or auricled, the lower edge excised, deeply lobed or 
pinnatifid, sometimes more than half-way down to the midrib, lobes 
