Schizea. | FILICES. 1023 
Nortu Isuanp: Auckland—In kauri forests from Kaitaia and Mongonui 
southwards to Tairua and the Lower Waikato, not common; in heated soil 
near hot springs at Orakeikorako, Upper Waikato, Kirk, C. J. Norton! Sea- 
level to 1500 ft. 
A widely spread species, found in the tropical and warm temperate regions 
of both hemispheres, with the exception of Africa. 
27. LYGODIUM, Swartz. 
Climbing ferns, with long twining stems, often ascending trees 
to a considerable height. Primary pinne distant on the common 
rhachis or stem, and inserted on it by a short and often almost 
obsolete petiole, dichotomously divided; the secondary divisions 
divaricate, stalked, usually again dichotomous, or in species 
not found in New Zealand pinnately divided. Sterile pinnules 
ovate to oblong-lanceolate, ligulate; fertile usually much con- 
tracted and frequently copiously divided. Sporangia ovoid, obli- 
quely sessile, splitting vertically, crowned by a complete transverse 
ring, arranged in two rows on the under-surface of the contracted 
fertile pinnuies, or forming short spikes projecting from the margins 
of the leafy pinnules, each sporangium in the axil of a large scale- 
like indusium. 
A very distinct genus of about 20 species, widely distributed in the tropics of 
both hemispheres. The single New Zealand species is endemic. 
1. L. articulatum, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 96, t. 15.—Rhizome 
slender, creeping, clothed with glossy chestnut - brown linear 
scales. Stipites very numerous, long, slender, climbing, reaching 
the tops of tall forest-trees, branched, wiry, often intertwined and 
forming almost impenetrable screens, quite smooth and glabrous. 
Primary pinne dichotomously palmate-partite; primary petiole 
short, 4-4in. long; two secondary petioles widely diverging, 1 in. 
or more long, again twice forked; pinnules 2-4 in. long, 4-410. 
broad, jointed at the base, ligulate-oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 
obtuse or subacute, thinly coriaceous, often glaucous beneath. 
Veins free. Fertile pinne many times dichotomous, the ultimate 
pinnules small, much contracted, cuneate or flabellate, deeply 
lobed; the lobes ending in closely placed short spikelets, each 
with 8-12 sporangia on the under-surface.—A. Cunn. Precur. 0. 
167; Raoul, Choiz, 37; Hook.f. Fl. Nov. Zel. u. 47; Handb. N.Z. 
Fl. 385; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. 437; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 96 ; 
Field, N.Z. Ferns, 152, t. 22, f.4. lL. gracilescens, Col. in Trans. 
N.Z. Inst. xxviii. (1896) 620. 
Nort Isianp: Auckland—In woods from the North Cape to the Bay of 
Plenty and Kawhia, abundant. Mange-mange. Sea-level to 2500 ft. 
The tough and wiry twining stems were formerly twisted into ropes by the 
Maoris and used for securing the thatch on the roofs of their houses; and they 
were also employed for making eel-traps. 
