Mlices.~\ 



FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. 



25 



pmnatis, pinnis late oblongis rotundatisve obtusis mucronatisve glabris basi oblique truncatis, stipite 

 rachique bispido-paleaceis.— Font. Prodr. A. Rick. Flor. A. Cum. Prodr. 



Hab. Northern and Middle Islands : as far south as Banks' Peninsula, Forsler, etc. (Cultivated at 

 Kew.) 



Very variable in size, and so much so in length of pinna, that I quite believe that it will prove a variety of 

 P.falcata, from which it only differs in the narrower, generally decumbent frond, much broader and shorter pinna 

 which are broadly oblong and blunt, or rounded, and in the son being often interrupted. Some of Dr. Sinclair's' 

 specimens seem quite intermediate, as are others cultivated at Kew. 



§ 2. Pteeis, L.— Fronds hi-tripinnate. Feins forked, free, united at their ends hy tie continuous receptacle. 



3. Ptens aquilina, L., var. esculenta; fronde rigida coriacea tripinnata glabra v. subtus parce pubes- 

 cente v. pilosa, pinnulis anguste lincaribus ultimis ssepius longe caudatis decurrenti-coadunatis, costa 

 crassa, rachibus stipiteque validis glabris. P. esculenta, Forst. Prodr. Swarlz, Syn. Fil. Lab. Fl Nov 

 Roll. v. 2. p. 95. t. 244. Br. Prodr. Fndl. Prodr. Fl. Ins. Norf. A. Rich. Flor. A. Cunn. Prodr. 



Hab. Throughout the Islands, as far south as Akaroa. Nat. name, "Aruhe," and " Roi" for the 

 root, Col. 



One of the most common New Zealand Ferns, and in many places a great pest to agriculturists, who find its 

 runmng woody roots very difficult to extirpate. The latter roasted were formerly a staple article of food with the 

 natives. The same variety grows in Australia, Tasmania, and the Pacific Islands, and differs very slightly from the 

 P a S mhna of the north temperate zone, which has fully twenty names in systematic works, and is found in one 

 form or another in all parts of the world.-i^W subterranean, creeping, as thick as two fingers. Stipes some- 

 times 10 feet high, grooved on one side, stout, pale yellow, shining, glabrous. Frond 2-4 feet long, broadly 

 deltoid, tn-quadn-pinnate, of a very hard rigid coriaceous texture, glossy above. Pinnules linear, decurrent and 

 united with one another, by forming a wing to the raehis, often hairy below. Son continuous, frequently sur- 

 rounding the pinnules, and even continued along their decurrent bases, to those of the pinnule below them Invo- 

 lucres very coriaceous Midrib very thick, often grooved and hairy.-Cunningham has made some mistake about 

 this plant lb Prodromus, implying he never saw it, and doubting its being a native, whereas it is the most 

 common of all Perns at the Bay of Islands, whence there are fine specimens in his own Herbarium, but unnamed. 



4. Pteris tremula, Br.; fronde data glaberrima submembranacea bi-quadripinnata, pinnis primaries 

 ascendentibus, pmnulis linearibus adnatis decurrentibus subacutis sterilibus rarius integerrimis crenato- 

 dentatis fertihbus plerumque integris, venis furcatis omnibus liberis, rachi stipiteque glaberrimis.-^ 

 Prodr. P. affims, A. Rick Flor. A. Cunn. Prodr. P. tenuis, A. Cunn. Prodr 

 Hab. Throughout the Northern Islands; abundant. (Cultivated at Kew.) 



This is a very common Tasmanian, Norfolk Island, and Australian plant, also found in Juan Fernandez and 

 Chili and which so closely resembles P. arguta of the South of Europe, the Atlantic Islands, Abyssinia, Africa, 

 and the East Indies, that I think it possible that all may be proved to belong to one widely diffused species.- 

 Extremely variable m size, from 1-5 feet, in consistency from membranous to coriaceous, in colour from pale 

 light green to olive-green, in amount of the division from bi- to quadri-pinnate, or almost decompound and in 

 breadth and length of the pinnules, which are quite entire or crenate. Its general characters are those of a per 

 fectly glabrous tnpmnate frond, rather membranous, broadly deltoid, with ascending branches • the pinnules 1-2 

 inches long and \ broad, linear, blunt, adnate, decurrent, crenate, with forked free veins, and a gkbrous shining 

 costa and racks : specimens in which all the pinnules are soriferous have these much narrower more coriaceous 

 with the involucres sometimes reaching to the costa; this has given rise to A. Cunningham's P. tenuis. 



5 Pteris scabenda, A. Eich. ; rigida,, erecta, glanduloso-pubescens, fronde erecta coriacea ovato- 

 lanceolata v. hnean-oblonga et contracta bi-tripinnata, pinuis secundaria lineari-lanceolatis stipitatis pro- 



Trr\r tt II 



