3:2 



FLORA 01? NEW ZEALAND. 



\_Filices. 



ovato-lanceolatis acuminatis bipinnatifidis glaberrimis, pinnis primariis lineari-lanceolatis apice angustatis 

 profunde pinnatifidis, pinnulis lineari-oblongis. acutis subfalcatis integerrimis serratisve, rachi stipiteque ala 

 interrupta acute angulato-lobata marginata costisque glaberrimis, stipite basi squamoso, fronde fertili pinnulis 

 lineari-ellipticis substipitatis apiculatis, involucris integris reflexis nudis.— A. Cum. Proclr. Hook Ic. 

 Plant, t. 185. 



Hab. Northern Island, and northern parts of the Middle Island; rare. Bay of Islands, Fraser, etc. 



Massacre Bay, Lyall. 



This is quite unlike any other species, and is found nowhere but in New Zealand.— Caudex, or rhizome, some- 

 times 2-3 feet long, as thick as the thumb, covered with the bases of the old stipites. Fronds numerous, a span 

 to 1± foot long, ovate, bipinnatifid, quite glabrous, rather membranous. Primary pinna 2-4 inches long, f broad, 

 tapering to a long point, pinnatifid nearly to the costa; segments close together, linear-oblong, acute, quite entire 

 or serrate. Eachis margined irregularly with a sharply angled and lobed wing, that is produced downwards nearly to 

 the base of the stipes, where the latter is scaly. Fertile fronds like the barren, but narrower, and the primary pinnse 

 are often again pinnate, caudate, and their segments are adnate, or shortly stipitatc. Involucres marginal, curving 

 awav from the sorus. 



Gen. XV. ASPLENIUM, L. 



Sori lineares, sparsi, superficie (rarius margine) frondis, venis parallelse. Involucrum e vena laterality 

 ortum ducens, margine superiore libero. 



One of the largest and most widely diffused genera of Eerns, of which the species also have an extensive geo- 

 graphical distribution. The New Zealand kinds have defied all attempts to be limited by words, and, with the 

 exception of A. flabellifolium and polyodon, I know of no two, however dissimilar, that can well be distinguished at 

 first si-lit from one another by descriptions. I have examined upwards of a thousand specimens from all parts of the 

 islands! for which I am especially indebted toDr.Lyall's splendid collections, which contained copious suites of full- 

 sized specimens of every form. These presented many intermediate states between A. lucidum, A. flaccidum, A. 

 hMiferum,sm&A. oUusatmn ; every attempt to draw a limit to any of the above-named forms bywords failed; 

 size colour, texture, amount of scales, mode of growth, amount and form of cutting or division of the fronds, length, 

 breadth and position of sori vary with every specimen and at every locality ; and sometimes, when I did fancy I had 

 found a diagnostic character between Dr. Lyall's specimens, those of Dr. Sinclair, Mr. Colenso, or my own, would 

 come in to render it of no avail. Nearly all the New Zealand forms are abundant, and equally variable in other 

 localities, and especially in similarly damp insular climates, which are not only favourable to a rich and varied Fern- 

 vegetation, but seem to favour the variations of the species themselves. The limits ascribed to the above-named 

 species in the following pages, I regard as quite arbitrary; I described what I supposed to represent the most gene- 

 rally distinct forms known to me; but it must be borne in mind, that I may often have called that the prevalent or 

 typical state of a plant, of which I happen to have the most specimens, or that which I gathered myself most com- 

 monly Careful observations of all the species over extensive areas can alone indicate what should be regarded as 

 the typical state of a plant • and I would caution the New Zealand student against expressing any decided opinion 

 on the New Zealand Asplenia, till he has arranged a large herbarium of them, from all parts of the islands, and 

 compared the specimens with one another, and with those from other parts of the world.-The genus is distin- 

 guished by bearing on the back of the frond linear sori, covered with a linear membranous involucre. Involucre 

 attached lengthwise to a veinlet (with which the sori are parallel), opening lengthwise and inwards; sometimes 

 the fronds are cut, or divided between every veinlet, when the sori become marginal, and the involucres appear to 

 open outwards, but if the whole pinna be carefully regarded, it will be seen that the involucre really opens towards 

 its costa. (Name from a, privative, and arrXrjv, the spleen ; in allusion to some supposed medicinal qualities.) 



