Plate 240.— LOMARIA DURA. 



Family FILICES.] [Genus LOMARIA, Willd. 



Lomaria dura, Moore in Gard. Chron. (1866) 290 ; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 978. 



Loviarm dura was first described by Mr. Mooi'e in the " Gardeners' 

 Chronicle " for 1866, his description (which I have not seen) being based on 

 cultivated specimens originally obtained on the Chatham Islands. It does 

 not seem to have been collected during Mr. H. H. Travers's first visit to the 

 Chathams, made in 1863, but was gathered by him in 1871. I have also 

 received specimens from the same locality collected by Miss Seddon and 

 Mr. Chudleigh, both of whom informed me that the plant was abundant on 

 cliffs. It was first recorded from the mainland of New Zealand by Mr. T. 

 Kirk in 1878, who quoted the habitats of the Bluff Hill, Catlin's River, and the 

 west coast Sounds. Since then it has been observed in many localities on 

 the coast-line to the south of Banks Peninsula, and has been ascertained to 

 be of frequent occurrence all round the shores of Stewart Island. Lastly, in 

 1891 Mr. T. Kirk proved that it was abundant on the islands to the south of 

 New Zealand, a discovery which makes it probable that the L. lanceolata 

 of the " Flora Antarctica " was in reality identical with L. dura, in which case 

 Sir J. D. Hooker must be counted as the original discoverer of the plant. 



L. dura is a purely maritime plant, and is never found far from the 

 influence of the sea-spray. In this respect it agrees with its congener 

 L. Banksii, which, however, has a much more northern distribution, advanc- 

 ing as far as the North Cape, whereas L. dura has not been found to the north 

 of Banks Peninsula. Both species prefer crevices in rocks or the faces of 

 cliffs, but I have seen L. Banksii on peaty ledges only a few feet above the 

 limit of the tide; and Mr. Kirk states that in Stewart Island L. dura "fre- 

 quently forms a dense fringe just above high-water mark." L. dura can easily 

 be distinguished from L. Banksii by the larger size, broader fronds, and much 

 longer and proportionately narrower usually acute pinnae. Both species are 

 endemic. 



Plate 240. Lomaria dura, drawn from specimens gathered by Miss Seddon on the Chatham 

 Islands. Fig. 1, scales from the rhizome ; 2 and 3, front and back of the tip of a fertile pinna ; 4. cross- 

 section of fertile pinna ; 5, a single sporangium. (All enlarged.) 



