6 ELOEA OE NEW ZEALAND. \Fihces. 



magnificent suites of Tasmanian specimens show every transition state; and Mr. Colenso's, from Taupo Plains, 

 (which are very slender,) are intermediate in character. Some of my specimens of var. ft alpma, from Mount 

 Wellington (Tasmania), are as glabrous as any of G. dicarpa. 



§ 2. Mbbtensia.— Sons at the middle or fork of a veinlet. Segments of tie pinna linear. 

 3. Gleichenia Omnrnghamii, Heward; fronde coriacea dichotome ramosa ssepe prolifera, ramis pmmsve 

 lanceolatis linearibusve pinnatirldis, pinnulis linearibus obtusis acutisve integerrimis subtus glaucis pilosis 

 glabratisve marginibus planis reourvisve integerrimis, capsulis 4-6 exsertis, stipite rachi costaque squamis 

 buUatis deciduis paleacea v. nuda.— Hew. MSS. in Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 1. p. 6. t. 6 B. (Tab. LXXI.) 

 Hab. Northern Island, Cunningham, etc., as far south as Queen Charlotte's Sound, Lyall. 

 I have studied this plant under several forms, and am not satisfied of its being permanently distinct from the 

 O flabellata. The latter plant is much less coriaceous and more glabrous (characters of little importance), and 

 has longer segments of the pinna?, which are more or less serrated. There are specimens closely resembling tins 

 plant in Herb. Hook, from South Chili and from Port Natal (G. umbraculifera, Kze.).-Stipes very stout a foot 

 Ion- erect, grooved down one side, pale, smooth, or sometimes covered above with large pale deciduous bullate 

 scales that are also found on the rachis and costa, or are wholly absent. Branches stout, curving, djchotomously 

 and proliferously branched, 6-15 inches long, *-l ^h broad, woolly at the base, rarely wholly glabrous, some- 

 times running out into long serrate points, pinnate below, pinnatifid above. Segments decurrent on the branches, 

 coriaceous, falcate, linear, |-f inch long, *-* broad, plane or with recurved or revolute margins, often glaucous below. 

 Capsules two to six, generally exposed. -Plate LXXI. Pig. 1, upper, 2, under surface of segments ; S, capsules : 

 — all magnified. 



4 Gleichenia flabellata, Br. ; fronde submembranacea dichotome ramosa prolifera flabelliformi bipin- 

 nata, pinnulis ascendentibns linearibus acutis serrulatis utrinque concoloribus subtus glaberrnms pubescenfa- 

 busve, capsulis 4-6 exsertis, costa rachi stipiteque nudis glaberrimis v. rarius pubescentibus.-^. Prodr. 

 Lab. Sert. Ami. Caled.p. 9. t. 12. A. Gunn. Prodr. Hook. Sp. Fil. v. I. p. 6. 



Hab. Northern Island, in shaded woods : Bay of Islands, A. Cunningham, etc. (Cultivated at Kew.) 



Also found in Australia and Tasmania, and in New Caledonia. A much larger plant than G. Cunninghamii, 



2-4 feet high with larger, broader, more membranous and proliferous fronds, having several tiers of branches rising 



above one another.-itofe narrow, long, serrate, green on both sides. Stipes, coda, and rachis without bullate 



scales. 



Obs. G. Hermanni, Br. {Polypod. dicliotomum, Porst. Prodr.), is introduced into A. Cunningham's Prodromus 

 on Porster's authority, who states that the roots are eaten roasted. I have no reason to suppose 67. Hermanni to be 

 a New Zealand plant, and much to suspect some mistake in this case, having several times found discrepancies 

 between the naming of the species in Porster's several Herbaria, and between these and his Prodromus ; his ha- 

 bitats too are sometimes erroneous. Porster no doubt refers to one of the New Zealand species as the esculent of 

 that country. 



Tribe II. CYATHEiE,— Sons globose. Capsules with an incomplete vertical ring, sessile or stalked, placed 

 on an elevated receptacle, often mixed with jointed hairs. Gen. II. to IV. 



Gen. II. CYATHEA, Sm. 



Sori dorsales, globosi, receptaculo globoso v. clavato siti. Involucrum globosum, primum clausum, 

 rnembranaceum v. corneum, denram apice lacero dehiscens v. basi rupta soruin nudans, cyatlnforme. Yen<z 

 libera;, furcates v. simplices. — Caudex sapius arborescens. 



