20 



FLORA 01 NEW ZEALAND. [Filices. 



tifidisve, segmentis ut in a. L. Lessoni, Bory in Buperrey Foy. p. 278. t. 37. /. 2. A. Rich. Flor. A. 

 Gunn. Froth- . Hook. I. c. 



Hab. Throughout the Islands, common. 



An extremely variable little fern, which has very lately been found in the humid forests of Western Tasmania 

 by Mr. Gunn,— Mizome creeping, scaly, and having pilose roots. Fronds pinnate or bi-tri-pinnate, numerous, ovate 

 or linear-oblong, rather tufted, erect, 2 inches to 2 feet high. Stipes scaly at the base, and racHs slender, stiff, tri- 

 gonous, polished. Pinna rather distant, sometimes in var. Lessoni simple, oblong-lanceolate, with a cuneate base, 

 blunt, lobed, bearing sori on the lobes ; more often pinnatifid, with cuneate lobes ; very frequently bi- and even tri- 

 pinnate. Pinnules always broadly cuneate, rounded in front, with a deep continuous intra-marginal sorus. — I con- 

 sider L. Lessoni and trichomanoides to be certainly varieties of the same plant. The pinnules vary from \-% inch 

 long ; the larger are lobed, and bear a sorus on each lobe. 



Gen. X. ADIANTUM, L. 



Sori marginales, punctiformes v. elongati. Involucrum soris conforme, e margine frondis reflexo, 

 disco venoso capsulifero, limbo membranaceo libero. 



Beautiful terrestrial Ferns, natives chiefly of the Tropics, but of which one species, called " Venus' Hair," is 

 found in Europe, and several occur in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.— Ekkome creeping. Stipes gene- 

 rally black, often polished. Fronds bi-tripinnate in the New Zealand species, with stipitate, broadly cuneate pinnules, 

 Sori marginal, short, or linear and continuous. Involucre formed of the reflexed, often kidney-shaped edge of the 

 frond, opening inwards, its surface veined ; the veins continuous with those of the pinnules. (Name from aStavros, in 

 allusion to the dry texture of the fronds.) 



1. Adiantum hispidulum, Sw.j fronde rigida subflabellatim ramosa bipartita bi-tripinnata, pinnis 

 (secundariis) linearibus acuminatis saepe falcatis, pinnulis plurimis stipitatis approximatis dimidiato-oblongis 

 obtusis basi cuneatis olivaceis subtus striatis hispidulis glabratisve spinuloso-serrulatis, soris plurimis 

 parvis confertis sinubus insertis, involucris orbiculatis brunneis, rachibus brunneis hispido-setosis, stipite 

 scaberulo nitido.— Sw. Syn. Fil. Br.Froclr. A. Rick Flor. A. Cunn. Prodr. Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 2. p. 31. 

 A. pubescens, Schk. t. 116. A. Rich. I. c. Midi. Prod. Fl. Ins. Norf. A. pedatum, Forst. Prodr., 

 non Linn. 



Hab. Northern Island, from the Bay of Islands to Cook's Straits. (Cultivated in England.) 



A widely diffused native of the Tropics and south temperate regions of the Old World, Australia, the Society 

 Islands, Java, the East Indies, and Mauritius.— Stipes dark brown, shining, rough, 3 inches to a span long. Frond 

 broad, bi-tripinnate, 6-12 inches long, often dividing at once into two branches, whence the pinnce spring ; they are 

 ascending, curved, and spread out like a fan ; the mode of branching is however irregular. Primary pinna linear, 

 with many stipitate pinnules. Pinnules coriaceous, olive-green, striated, hispid, a-a inch long, obliquely oblong, 

 blunt, cuneate at the base, upper margin covered with the numerous red-brown sori, each orbicular, situated on a 

 narrow sinus of the pinnule. 



2. Adiantum affrne, Willd. ; fronde glaberrima tenera flaccida pinnata bipinnata v. rarius tripinnata, 

 pinnis panels lineari-lanceolatis laxis, pinnulis membranaceis olivaceis late dimidiato-oblongis falcatis apice 

 truncato-rotundatis crenatis superne setulis raris instructs, margine snperiore crenato, sinubus sonfens, 

 involucris remotis pallidis reniformibus lunatisve, rachi stipiteque gracili ebeneo lsevi. Willd. Sp. PL 

 Endl. Prodr. Fl. Ins. Norf. A. Rich. Flor. A. Omn. Prodr. Hook. Sp. Fil. v. 2. p. 32. A. trapezi- 

 forme, Forst. Prodr. Schk. Fil. t.\2\, non Linn. A. setulosum, J. 8m. in Comp. Bot. Mag. 1846.^. 22. 

 Hab. Northern and Middle Islands, Forster, etc. Akaroa, Raoul. (Cultivated in England.) 



