Plate 244.-ASP1D1UM CYST(3STEG1A. 



Family FILICES.] ^Gknus ASPIDIUM. Swartz 



Aspidium cystostegia, Hook. Sf. Fil. iv, 26. t. 227 ; Ckeese,». Man. N.Z. Fl. 1000. 



nr nSfT^/^ff'^'^/'' T^' ^''^ discovered on Mount Egmont in 1840 by 

 Dr Dieffenbach the naturalist to the New Zealand Company. ThrouRh some 

 mistake the locality was originally given as " Tongariro " but thisTs clearlv 

 erroneous as Dieffenbach never ascended that mountain on alunt of ot'os - 

 tion raised by the Maoris. It has, however, been since collected on both 

 Tongariro and Ruapehu. About 1860 ,t was gathered bv Mr W T L 



NpW P°" •^^'' V'^'°^'-^ ^'^^^' W^^^" ^'^11^3'. in the southern part of' the 

 Nelson Provincial District, and at the Wairau Gorge bv Dr. Sinclair Further 

 investigation has proved that it is not uncommon on all the hi'- er mountain 

 ranges of both the North and South Islands, from Mount Egn oft anTlong^^ 

 riro southwards to Foveaux Strait. In 1890 Mr. Kirk cx.]]ectcd it on the 

 Auckland Islands, and in 1907 it was detected bv Dr. Cockavne near he sum- 

 T6%fK "^■^'"' ^''"''' ^'^''''^- ''' ^^l^itudina] range is from ToOO Tt. 



stonirl^h?/''''''''^'? ^-^ "f"'"^ ^,°""^ ^" '^"'^ ""^'^^ '"^"^ ^•«''"^^s amongst 

 it nftL f 1 "" ^"^i^t^in-sloPfs above the forest-level. In such situations 



It often forms large clumps, easily distinguished bv the soft and tender pale- 

 ?hacH, °r'l ^' '/ remarkable for the extremely paleaceous stipes '^Jnd 

 rhachis which are densely clothed with pale-brown scales up to the verv tip 

 of the frond. The involucres are different from those of any other species^ 



vprv^t^?n'''''T'^ ^' i"" ^°°^ "1"'^'^ hemispherical, and at the' same time are 

 very thin ancl membranous, thus having a bladdery appearance. Although 

 falling into the same section of the genus as Aspidium vestitnm it differs 

 greatly m habit and in the characters mentioned above Sir W J Hooker 

 compared the ramification to that of A. mohrioides. 



Pace r^'^r ^^^' ,^*P'''^*«'" cystostegia, drawn from specimeiLs collected on the mountains above A.rthur'8 

 Pas , Canterbury Alps, at an altitude of 4,000 ft. Fig. I, scale from the lower part of the sILs 2 a 

 smgle pmnule, showmg son ; 3, mdusium ; 4, a single sporangium. (All enlarged.) ' 



