1000 FILICES. [Aspidiwm. 
5. A. ecystostegia, Hook. Sp. Fil. iv. 26, t. 227.—Rhizome 
short, stout, densely scaly, sometimes branched above. Stipes 
2-6in. high, paie-brown, clothed with copious large pale-brown 
shining membranous lanceolate scales. Fronds very numerous, 
tufted at the top of the rhizome, 4-10 in. long without the stipes, 
14-2in. broad, oblong-lanceolate, acute, pale-green, soft, mem- 
branous and almost flaccid, both surfaces clothed with linear scales 
when young, 2-pinnate; rhachis stout, densely scaly. Pinne 
spreading, closely placed above the middle, remote below, 4-14in. 
long, ovate-deltoid, pinnate; rhachises often winged. Pinnules 
4-1 in. long, ovate-lanceolate, deeply lobed or pinnatifid; segments. 
‘obtuse or acute. Sori numerous, large, 2-4 to a pinnule. Indusium 
orbicular, very convex, almost hemispherical, thin and membranous, 
pale-coloured.—Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 376; Hook. and Bak. Syn. 
Fil. 2538; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 19; Field, N.Z. Ferns, 128, t. 8, f. 3.. 
NortH Isitanp: Tongariro, Dieffenbach; Mount Egmont, Mrs. Jones, 
T. F. C.; Tararua Mountains, Buchanan. SoutH IstanpD: Not uncommon in 
alpine districts throughout. AUucKLAND Is~aAnDs: Kirk. 3000-5500 fs. 
A very distinct little species, easily recognised by the stout soft stipes and 
rhachis densely clothed with large pale scales, the narrow frond, and large 
bladdery indusia. A form with a firmer frond and dark-coloured scales on the 
stipes is occasionally seen. 
6. A. capense, Willd. Sp. Plant. v. 268.—Rhizome long, stout, 
creeping, covered with large tawny subulate-lanceolate silky scales. 
Stipes 1-2 ft. long, stout, erect, more or less densely clothed with 
deciduous scales. Fronds scattered along the rhizome, 9-18 in. 
long without the stipes, 6-12 in. broad, ovate-deltoid, acuminate, 
very coriaceous, rigid, glabrous or the under-surface slightly palea- 
ceous, 3-pinnate ; rhachis deciduously scaly. Primary pinne erecto- 
patent, stipitate, lanceolate or lanceolate-deltoid, 2-pinnate; the 
lowest pair the largest, 4-8 in. long, 2-3 in. broad, the basal second- 
ary pinna on each side of the frond longer than the others. Ulti- 
mate segments oblong, obtuse or subacute, shortly and bluntly 
lobed or almost entire, not mucronate. Sori copious, in 2 rows. 
near the midrib, often covering the whole under-surface. Indusium 
large, orbicular, sometimes with a distinct sinus.—Hook. and Bak. 
Syn. Fil. 254; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 758; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 80; 
Field, N.Z. Ferns, 129, t. 6, {.2. <A. coriaceum, Swartz, Syn. Fil. 
57; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 711; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 2238; Raoul, 
Choww, 88; Hook. Sp. Fil. iv. 32; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 376. 
A. Cunninghamianum, Coil. i Tasmanian Journ. Nat. Scr. (1845) 6. 
Polystichum coriaceum, Schott; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 37. 
Polypodium adiantiforme, Horst. Prodr. n. 449. 
NortH AND SoutH IsLANDS, STEWART ISLAND, CHATHAM ISLANDS: 
Abundant in forests throughout, often climbing up trees. Sea-level to 2000 ft. 
A widely distributed fern, found in temperate Australia, Polynesia, South 
Africa, Mauritius, and in America stretching from Cuba to Patagonia. 
