P1.ATE 238.— LINDSAYA VllilDlS. 



Family FILICE8.] | Genus LINDSAYA, Dryander 



Lindsaya viridis, Col. in Tasm. Jouin. Nat. Sci. ii (1846), 174 ; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 959. 



Lindsaya viridis, which is a very beautiful and distinct species, was origin- 

 ally discovered by Mr. Colenso in January, 1842, while journeying from 

 Rotorua to Tauranga. It was gathered " on the stony banks of the Manga- 

 rewa, a small river running in a deep ravine," and was at once recognized 

 by him as a " truly elegant species, evidently possessing some affinity with 

 L. trichomanoides, from which, however, it is very distinct." Mr. Colenso 

 published the species in the " Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science"; but in 

 the " Flora " Sir J. D. Hooker reduced it to L. trichomanoides, not even granting 

 it varietal distinction. This is a good illustration of how difficult it is to deal 

 with plants from dried specimens alone, for there can be no doubt whatever 

 that if Hooker had seen the plant in the living state he would never have asso- 

 ciated it with any other species. In the " Synopsis Filicum " Mr. Baker re- 

 ferred it to the Australian L. microphylla, and no doubt that species is a much 

 closer ally than L. trichomanoides, but even in that case the differences are 

 too great to admit of specific union. In 1875 the late Mr. H. C. Field, well 

 known from his valuable little book on New Zealand ferns, wrote to Mr. Baker 

 forwarding specimens of the plant, and pointing out its distinctness. From 

 this information Mr. Baker re-established C'olenso's species. 



L. viridis is far from common, although it has a fairly extensive range, 

 being found from the Great and Little Barrier Islands southwards to the 

 Sounds of south-west Otago. In the South Island, however, it is confined to 

 the western side of the island. It is invariably found by the sides of streams, 

 either pendulous from the wet rocks of waterfalls or dripping cliffs, or grow- 

 ing erect on the mossy surface of shelving rocks flanking swiftly flowing 

 streams, in either case its roots being provided with an ample supply of mois- 

 ture. But, as Mr. Field has remarked, it often grows in situations where it 

 is exposed to full sunshine for a large part of the day. When seen massed 

 together in quantity its pale-green fronds and remarkably elegant mode of 

 growth give it a very attractive appearance. 



Plate 238. Lindsaya viridis, drawn from specimens collected in the Waitakarei Ranges, near 

 Auckland. Fig. 1, tip of a pinnule ; 2, tip of a single segment, showing a sorus with its indusium : 

 3, the same with one face of the indusium removed ; 4, a single sporangium. (All enlarged.) 



