1008 FILICES. [Polypodium. 
As defined above, this is the largest genus of ferns, containing over 500 
species, found in all parts of the world. Various attempts to divide it have been 
made by authors, and a multitude of small genera have been proposed, several 
of which appear to be well founded, but no complete arrangement of the species 
has yet been propounded which has met with the general approval of botanists. 
Ot the 10 species found in New Zealand, one (P. punctatwm) is universal in the 
tropics and the south temperate zone; another (P. australe) is common to Aus- 
tralia and the extreme south of South America ; 6 extend to Australia or the 
Pacific islands ; the remaining 2 are endemic. 
Subgenus I, PHEGoPTERIS. Stipes not jointed on to the rhizome but continuous 
with it. Veins all free. 
Fronds large, 1-4 ft., 2-4-pinnate, glandular-pubescent .. 1. P. punctatwm. 
Subgenus II. GoNIoPTERIS. Stipes not jointed on to the rhizome but continuous 
with it. Veins pinnate in the lobes, the lower veinlets uniting at the tips 
with those of the adjoining lobes. 
Fronds large, 2-5ft., pinnate, membranous, glabrous or 
nearly so 2. P. pennigerum. 
Subgenus III. Evuprotypopium. Stipes jouted on to the rhizome. Veins all 
free. 
Rhizome short. Fronds small, 1-6 in., quite entire. Sori 
oblong or linear-oblong, oblique to the midrib .. 3&. P. australe. 
Rhizome short. Fronds 3-9in., irregularly pinnatifid or 
2-pinnatifid; pinnelinear. Sori oblong orrounded .. 4. P. grammitidis. 
Rhizome very long, creeping. Fronds 1-2ft., pinnate; 
pinne undivided, jointed on the rhachis aA .. od. P. tenellum. 
Subgenus IV. NipHosouus. Stipes jointed on to the rhizome. Veins copiously 
anastomosing. Under-surface of frond densely tomentose. 
Rhizome long. Fronds 1-6in., simple, entire, coriaceous ; 
sterile shorter and broader than the fertile .. .. 6. P. serpens. 
Subgenus V. Puymatopres. Stipes jointea on to the rhizome. Veins copr- 
ously anastomosing. Under-surface of frond glabrous. 
Rhizome short. Fronds 4-12 in., tufted, lanceolate, simple 
and entire .. sic a a ae sis 
Rhizome long, slender, clothed with squarrose scales. 
Fronds 6-18 in., simple or pinnatifid, membranous; seg- 
ments narrow oF sls xe 46 ere 
Rhizome long, stout, clothed with appressed scales. 
Fronds 6-18in., simple or pinnatifid, coriaceous; seg- 
ments usually broad ai a Sip é 
Rhizome long, stout, clothed with large tawny spreading 
scales. Fronds 1-4ft., deeply pinnatifid or pinnate 
below, thinly coriaceous; segments usually narrow .. 10. P. nove - zea- 
landia. 
7. P. Cunningham 
8. P. pustulatum. 
9. P. Billardieri. 
1. P. punctatum, Thunb. Fl. Jap. 336.—Rhizome long, creep- 
ing, villous with rufous spreading hairs. Stipes 6-18in. long, 
firm, erect, red-brown, densely glandular-pubescent and viscous, 
rough with minute raised points. Fronds scattered along the 
rhizome, very variable in size, from 4-3 ft. long, 3-18in. broad, 
ovate-deltoid to lanceolate-deltoid, acuminate, rather membranous, 
