Aspidium.] FILICES. 997 
orbicular, attached by a central stalk, flat or convex, membranous, 
concealing the sorus when young. Sporangia stalked, bursting 
transversely, girt by an incomplete vertical ring. 
A genus of about 70 species, found in most parts of the world. The New Zea- 
land species all belong to the subgenus Polystichwm, characterized by the free 
veins, coriaceous habit, and usually sharply toothed segments. Of the 7 species 
enumerated in this work, 3 are very widely distributed, 1 is American and 
antarctic, another extends to Fiji, the remaining 2 are endemic. 
A. Rhizome short, stowt, erect. Fronds tufted at the top of the rhizome. 
Fronds 1-3 ft., oblong -lanceolate, coriaceous, narrowed 
below, 2-pinnate; segments sharply toothed. Stipes 
shaggy with large dark scales mixed with hairs .. 1. A. aculeatum 
Fronds 4-Sin., oblong-lanceolate, coriaceous, pinnate; 
segments obtusely toothed. Stipes clothed with 
blackish-brown scales .. 2. A. mohrioides. 
Fronds 9-18in., ovate- deltoid, rigid and coriaceous, not 
narrowed below, 1-2 pinnate ; segments sharply toothed. 
Stipes clothed with narrow black scales 3. A. Richardi. 
Fronds 10-20in., ovate-oblong, coriaceous, not narrowed 
below, 2-3 pinuate; segments obtusely toothed. Stipes 
clothed with large black scales margined with white. 
Indusium with a large black disc Be 4. A. oculatum. 
Fronds 4-12in., oblong-lanceolate, soft and ‘flaccid, 2. 
pinnate. Stipes clothed with large pale membranous 
scales. Indusium large, very convex es .. 5. A. cystostegia. 
B. Rhizome long, creeping. Fronds distant along the rhizome. 
Fronds 1-3ft., deltoid, 2-3-pinnate. Ultimate segments 
obtusely lobed or toothed .. he ac 3/2) O- -Al capense- 
Fronds 1-3 ft., deltoid, 2-3-pinnate. Ultimate segments 
with aristate teeth or lobes .. os ye .. 7. A. aristatum. 
1. A. aculeatum, Swartz in Schrad. Journ. ii. (1800) 37; var. 
vestitum, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 375.—Rhizome short, stout, 
erect or ascending, sometimes produced into an erect caudex 1-4 ft. 
high. Stipes 6-18in. long, stout, erect, densely clothed with 
spreading scales; many of the scales large, over 1 in. long, ovate- 
lanceolate or subulate-lanceolate, long-acuminate, lacerate, straight 
or curved, glossy, black or dark-brown with a pale margin; others 
bristle-like or woolly, pale-ferruginous or tawny. Fronds numerous, 
forming a spreading crown at the top of the caudex, 1-3 ft. long 
without the stipes, 4-9 in. broad, oblong-lanceolate or linear-oblong, 
acute or acuminate, narrowed towards the base, rather coriaceous, 
dark-green, glabrous above when mature, under-surface more or 
less fibrillose, bipinnate; rhachis usually densely scaly lke the 
stipes, but sometimes the broader scales are wanting. Primary 
pinne numerous, close-set, horizontally spreading, 2—5in. long, 
4-1 in. broad, linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, acuminate. Pinnules 
numerous, close, shortly stipitate, ovate-rhomboidal, unequal-sided, 
more or less auricled on the upper side near the base, toothed or 
lobed or pinnatifid, the lobes acute or pungent. Sori 6-8 to a 
