08 DICKSONIA. 



Other, the fertile fronds are more dividerl, the ultimate pinnae (or pinnules) 

 lieina^ ap:ain piiniatcd, the friictilied segments more contracted, more deep- 

 ly divided, and the sori arc mucli larger, next in size indeed to those of D. 

 arborescens. Our figure will give a better idea of these differences than can 

 be conveyed hy words. 



5. D. sqiiarrosa, Svv.; arborescent, caudex clothed with the 

 bases of tlic old stall<s, stipes (black) and rachis eveiywhere 

 rough with raised ])oints and frequently hispid with black 

 spreading hairs, fronds coriaceous 3 — 4-pinnate, ultimate pin- 

 naj oblong moderately acuminated deejily pinnatifid, seg- 

 ments ovate or oblong ]uuigent and mucronately serrated, 

 i'ertile segments much smaller contracted deeply i^innatifid 

 each lobe bearing a rather small sorus, valves of the involu- 

 cre both concave nearly equal. SchkuJir, Fil. p. 124,/! 130, 

 {barren frond only). Trichonianes squarrosum, Forst. Prodr. 

 p. 86. 



Hah. New. Zealand. Dusty Bay in the middle island, southern extre- 

 mity, Forster; extending northward probably through the whole of the mid- 

 dle and northern islands, Allan a)ul Richard Cunningham, Colenso, Sine/air, 

 J. D. Hooker, and various tnnrllers. — Trunk 6—8 feet high, or perhaps 

 more, crowned with noble tufls of bright green, beautifully graceful fronds, 

 divided more copiously and into much finer segments in the fructified por- 

 tions. The acutely and pungently serrated segments, the l)lach stipes and 

 rachis, rough with little elevated points mixed with blaci spreading bris- 

 tles, readily distinguish this species from the two following. 



6. D.^brosa, Colenso ; "arborescent, caudex bulky clothed 

 with an excessively thick <l)y fibrous substance," main and 

 partial rachis smooth (not rough) clothed with dense patent 

 velvety hairs especially beneath, fronds coriaceous bipinnate 

 (fertile tripinnate) primary pinna: much acuminated, secon- 

 dary or ultimate ones oblong-lanceolate acute deeply pinna- 

 tifid, segments ovate subfalcate pungently acute and sharply 

 serrated lower ones free, fertile lobes smaller othei"wise not 

 much changed, the teeth or lobes soriferous, sori small, valves 

 of the involucre both concave nearly equal." (Tab. XXIII. 

 B.) D. fibrosa, Colenso in Tasnian. Journ. of Nat. Sc, 



Hab. In rich alluvial soil near rivers, in woods in Te Waiite district, 

 northern island of New Zealand, January, 1842, W. Colenso, Esq., n. 289. 

 — Of this species I only possess portions of a large frond, with copious 

 fructifications. But, happily, Mr. Colenso's description is before me, 

 from which I have been able to improve the specific character : and the 

 following are his further general remarks. " This fine arborescent Fern at- 

 tains in its native forests a height of 18 feet. In affinity it approaches very 

 near to D. squarrnsa, Sw., from which, however, it may, even at a distance, 

 l)e readily distinguislied by its trunk not being studded with broken-off and 

 decayed petioles as in that species; but, on the contrary, thickly covered 

 with fibres, which resemble those of the fibrous interior of the husk of the 

 cocoa-nut. This fibrous epidermis increases in thickness with the age of 



