DICKSONIA. ()0 



Uif phint ; and in time causes it to appear unusually bulky. Sonic trees 

 were noticed from l(»— 1!> inches in diameter. The natives cut away this 

 (ibrons outside in thick slices, which they use for many purposes in the 

 construction ol' their dwelliuf,' houses, and especially their stores lor food. 

 15cing easier cut by them llian wood, a piece resembling- a small plank 

 may readily be obUiined. It is also found much more eifectnal than sucli 

 timber as they, with their limited means, could cut, for excluding: vats and 

 mice, for these animals cannot f^naw the ury librous substance so readily 

 as throu},'h wood. Its living fronds are few in number, spreading and de- 

 ciduous; when dead they remain hanging for a long while thickly around 

 the trunk, giving the plant a peculiar bushy appearance. Its foliage, when 

 living, is much softer than that of D. s(/uarrosa, which is very harsh and 

 spiny, and much more dcei)ly veined. The natives call this species Weki- 

 ptnuja ; a word worth noticing, as showing the aeuteuess of their observa- 

 tion of natural productions: it being evidently derived from Weki, the 

 name given by them to D. srjuarrosa, and Potuja, their name for Cj/ntlwa 

 •Icalbata ; this plant being, according to their ideas, intermediate between 

 those two species; or possessing characters common to both, which un- 

 doubtedly it has in general appearance ; uniting the softness of the foliage 

 of the one, with the rough caudex and deciduous fronds of the other." 



7. 1>. laiiata, Culcnso; subavborescent, stijjcs (pale brown) 

 and racliis smoollj }>ut clothed with dense shaggy dcciduons 

 wool, fronds ovate bi-tripiiniate coriaceous, ultimate ](inn;u 

 oblong shortly attenuated obtuse deeply i)innati(id, segments 

 ovato-oblong obtuse subl'alcate obtusely serrated, tlic lower 

 ones free (pinnules), fertile segments smaller contracted deep- 

 ly pinnatilid each lobe bearing a rather small sorus, valves of 

 the involucre both concave nearly eijual. (Tau. XXIII. C). 

 — D. lanata, Colenso in Tasiii. Joiirn. of Nal. Sc. D. liuvis, 

 Heward, MS. in Herb, nosir. 



liab. New Zealand, northern island, fii-st detected by Mr. Allan Cun- 

 mnijham; ./". L). Hooker. Acclivities, cleareil woods on the high shores of 

 the east side of Waikare lake, December, ISll, W.Colcnso, ksq. — This, 

 so far as I can learn, and as Dr. Hooker's observation goes, does not 

 rise much above tlie ground, and forms but a short imperfect caudex. 

 It is extremely dilVerent from the two ])receding species, in tlie quite smooth 

 sti])es and rachis, of a pale brown colour, clothed with copious yellowisli de- 

 ciduous wool, and the very blunt segments and se#alures of the segments. 

 Mr. Colenso indeed in his iMS. now before me, mentions a variety " /3. his- 

 pi<ta, which is much larger, and grows on t'le mountain range of Wananake, 

 near the Waugarei lake, E. coast. It attains to 5 — feet in height, in- 

 cluding the stipes, and is nearly quadripinnate; its {)innules too are more 

 distant, segments oblong-linear and i)iunalilid, and the hair of the stipes 

 and frond is much more rigid and of a dark brown colour. 1 am almost 

 inclined to consider it a distinct species, but wait the examination of bet- 

 ter specimens than those at present in my possession." — I have received 

 from this persevering and enthusiastic botanist a s])ecimen marked " ;{:?, 

 Diclisonia, n. sp.? " which 1 take to be the plant just alluded to. If so, 

 though a rather striking variety, I still think it iiut a variety. The sti])es 

 and rachis arc pale brown, slightly rough to the touch, but not sensilily 

 to the eye, ([uite free from woolly covering, which has no doubt fallen away ; 

 but the base of the stipes is clothed with long, silky, dark brown seta: ; the 



