Gleichenia. | FILICES. 1019 
Var. hecistophylla.— Usually 1-3 ft. high. Frond much and closely di- 
chotomously branched, usually spreading in a horizontal plane; stipes and 
rhachis densely woolly and scaly. Segments strongly incurved beneath, some- 
times as much as in the typical form, but variable in this respect.—G. hecisto- 
phylla, A. Cunn. Precur. u. 163; Hook. Sp. Fil. i. 4, t 2B. G. semi-vestita 
var. hecistophylla, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel.ii. 5. G. circinata var. hecistophylla, 
Hook. f. Handb, N.Z. Fl. 348. 
Var. alpina, Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. ii. 131.—Smaller and more compactly 
tufted, 2-12in. high; rhachis, young shoots, and under-surface of segments 
densely clothed with ferruginous wool mixed with scales. Fronds much 
smaller and more sparingly divided.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 348; Benth. Fl. Austral. 
vii. 698. G. alpina, R. Br. Prodr. 161; Hook. and Grev. Ic. Fil. t. 58; Hook. 
Sp. Fil. i. 2. 
NortH anv Soutu Istanps, STEWART IsLAND, CHATHAM IsLANDS: Var. 
hecistophylla abundant in swampy places on poor soils in the North Island, 
local elsewhere. Sea-level to 2000ft. Var. alpina: Mountainous localities 
from Moehau (Cape Colville) and Rotorua southwards, ascending to 4500 ft. 
As a species, G. dicarpa stands very near to G. circinata, principally differ- 
ing in the smaller segments of the pinne, which have their margins incurved 
almost to the costa, leaving only a narrow slit open, through which the sori are 
visible unless masked by the ferruginous tomentum. I have followed the 
‘‘ Synopsis Filicum’’ in placing Cunningham’s G. hecistophylia under G. 
dicarpa, but it has equal claims to be included with G. circinata, which was the 
position given to it by Sir J. D. Hooker, both in the Flora and the Handbook. 
The late Baron Mueller justly observed (Veg. Chath. Isl. 63) that it obliterates 
the limits of the two species. The typical form of G. dicarpa occurs in eastern 
Australia, New Caledonia, and Malaya, and var. alpina in Tasmania. 
3. G. Cunninghamii, Heward ex Hook. Sp. Fil. i. 6, t. 68B.— 
Usually from 1-3 ft. high, but taller plants are sometimes seen. 
Rhizome long, branched, creepirg, stout and woody, clothed with 
red-brown lanceolate scales. Stipes stout, erect, grooved down one 
side, in the young state densely clothed with large deciduous scales, 
becoming almost glabrous when old. Fronds several times dichoto- 
mously branched, the branches usually spreading all round in a 
horizontal plane and forming an umbrella-like top to the stipes, in 
large specimens proliferous from the centre, so that frequently 
there are 2-4 superposed tiers of branches. Ultimate branches or 
pinne 3-12in. long, 4-14in. broad, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, 
deeply pectinate-pinnatifid above, pinnate below; rhachis usually 
clothed with deciduous scales and pilose. Segments 4-3 in. long, 
44 in. broad, linear, straight or often falcate, acute, quite entire, 
coriaceous, dark-green and glabrous above, glaucous and usually 
pilose beneath ; margins flat or recurved. Transverse veins nu- 
merous, forked near the base. Sori copious, solitary on one of the 
veinlets, of 2-5 sporangia.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 6, t. 71; Handb. 
N.Z. Fl. 348; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Ful. 13; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 26 ; 
Field, N.Z. Ferns, 39, t. 7, {. 3. G. ciliata, Col. i Trans. N.Z. Inst. 
xix. (1697)°414. 
NortH anp SoutH Isnanps, Stewart Isnanp: In forests from the North 
Cape southwards, abundant in the North Isiand, local to the south of Cook 
Strait. Sea-level to 4000 ft. Umbrella Fern; Tapuwaekotuku. 
