1006 FILICES. [Nephrodium. 
8. N. molle, Desv. in Mem. Linn. Soc. vi. 258.—Rhizome very 
shortly creeping or tufted and erect, densely rooting. Stipes 
9-24 in. long, slender, greenish, naked or pubescent with soft 
spreading hairs. Fronds 1-3 it. long, 6-12 in. broad, oblong-lanceo- 
late, acuminate, gradually narrowed at the base, pale-green, mem- 
branous and flaccid, sparingly pilose on both surfaces or almost 
glabrous when old, pinnate; rhachis pale, pilose with spreading 
hairs. Pinne numerous, the lower ones gradualiy dwarfed, spread- 
ing, sessile, 3-6in. long, about 3in. broad, lanceolate, acuminate, 
pinnatifid about half-way to the midrib; lobes short, oblong, obtuse, 
entire or nearly so. Veins pinnate in the lobes; veinlets 5-8 on 
each side, the lower ones uniting at the tips with those of the 
adjoining lobes. Sori copious, about half-way between the margin 
and the midrib. Indusium cordate-reniform, usually villous.— 
Hook. Sp. Fil. iv. 67; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 377; Hook. and Bak. Syn. 
Fil. 293; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 84; Field, N.Z. Ferns, 1338, t. 23, f. 5. 
Aspidium molle, Swartz, Syn. Fil. 49; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 756. 
Polypodium nymphale, Forst. Prodr. 442. 
Kermapec Istanps: Sunday Island, not uncommon, MacGillivray, T. F. C. 
Nort Istanp: Auckland—North Cape district, a small patch by the side 
of the Mangatete Stream, flowing into Rangaunu Harbour, R. H. Matthews ! 
Thermal-springs district, by the banks of the Otumakokori, or Boiling River (near 
Waiotapu), Captain G. Mair! T.F.C., Kirk! margins of hot springs at 
Wairakei (Taupo), C. J. Norton! T. F. C. 
Abundant in tropical and warm temperate countries almost throughout the 
world. 
21. NEPHROLEPIS, Schott. 
Rhizome short and indistinct, or long and creeping, sometimes 
emitting long wiry creeping and rooting stolons, from which new 
plants originate. Fronds long and narrow, coriaceous or sub- 
membranous, pinnate; pinne jointed upon the rhachis, often de- 
ciduous, entire or crenate-serrate, upper surface frequently marked 
with white cretaceous dots. Veins free. Sori roundish, dorsal, 
placed on the tip of the upper branch of a vein, usually close to 
the margin. Indusium cordate or reniform or almost lunate, 
attached by a broad base. Sporangia stalked, surrounded by an 
incomplete vertical ring, bursting transversely. 
A small genus of 7 or 8 species, widely distributed in the tropical regions of 
both hemispheres. The two New Zealand species have the range of the genus. 
Pinne 4-1 in. long, oblong or linear-oblong, obliquely cor- 
date at the base... . 1. N. cordifolia. 
Pinne 14-3 in. long, oblong- lanceolate, usually obliquely 
truncate at the base ae : .. 2. N. exaltata. 
1. N. cordifolia, Pres! ; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. 300. — Rhi- 
zome short, suberect or oblique, emitting numerous long and wiry 
scaly stolons, which root here and there and produce new plants, 
