Plate 241.— LOMAKlA xXlGliA. 



Familv FILICES.] I Genus LOMARIA, Willd. 



Lomaria nigra^ Col. in Tasm. Journ. Nat. Sci. (184C) 176; Hook. /. Fl. Nov. Zel. li, 31 ; 

 Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 982. ,01, 



Mr Colenso, in January, 1842, while travelling from Rolorua to Tau- 

 ranga along the old Maori track connecting the two districts, and which then 

 led through an almost continuous forest, was the first to collect this very 

 curious and peculiar plant, which he found "in a low, wet, and dark spot" 

 apparently not far from the Mangarewa River. After the lapse of seventy 

 years it can still be seen in abundance in the same forest. It was next gathered 

 by Dr. Sinclair in some locality in the Auckland Provincial District; and by 

 Dr. Lyall in the Sounds of the south-west coast of Otago. Since then it has 

 been observed in numerous localities between Kaitaia and Stewart Island but 

 IS tar from being generally spread, and must not be counted as a common 

 species. Mr. Colenso's remarks as to the nature of its habitat are exceedincrly 

 apt for It IS most plentiful in dark and dank spots in dense forests, and espe- 

 cially near the source of some mountain rivulet, where the shade is deep and 

 the soil more or less springy or even boggy. It descends to sea-level, but is 

 most plentiful between 500 ft, and 2,500 ft. elevation. 



Lomaria nigra is easily recognized by the blackish-green colour of the 

 frond, which is unusually tender and brittle. Apart from those characters 

 It can be distinguished by the broad terminal portion of the frond which is 

 often very slightly lobed, giving the whole frond a lyrato-pinnatifi'd appear- 

 ance. The surface of the frond is often covered with mosses or hepatic*, very 

 much after the same fashion as Trichomanes elonaatum, and their presence 

 often gives the plant an untidy and unhealthy appearance. L niara is endemic 

 in New Zealand. 



Plate 241. Lomarin nigra, drawn from specimens rollectefl on Te Aroha Mountain Fig 1 a 

 ■single pinna of the frond (x.3): 2. tip of a fertile pinna (x.3): 3, .section of fertile pinna ( x 6)'- 

 4, two sporangia (enlarged). ^ i ■ 



