146 



145. N. (Lastrea) (lecompositmn, Br. ; caudex long creep- 

 ing underground l)lack very sparsely scaly at the base, sti- 

 pites a span to 2-3 feet long, frond a span to 1^ foot long 

 ovate or deltoid or suhquinquangular acuminate coriaceo- 

 menibranaceous firm glabrous or more or less pubescent on 

 the costae and veins beneath bipinnate 3-4-pinnate below, 

 primary pinnae 4 inches to a span long broad-oblong acumi- 

 nate, basal pair half-ovate their lower inferior pinnae the 

 longest, pinnules varying exceedingly in size on different 

 plants from 2-3 lines to \-\ inch long lanceolate or ovato-lan- 

 ceolate decurrenti-coadunate acute or obtuse variously incised 

 or pinnatifid, the segments acutely serrated, veinlets simple 

 or forked remote, sori small distant halfway between the 

 margin and costule, involucres reniform testaceous, rachis 

 glabrous or pubescent. Br. Proclr. Nov. Holl.p. 149. — Var. a, 

 macrophyJlum ; less compound, pinnules large. N. decom- 

 positum, Br. a, glabellum. Hook. fil. Ft. Nov. Zel. ii. p. 39. 

 /. 73 [small specimen., otherivise excellent). Hook. Jil. Fl. 

 Tasman. ii. ;j. 149, Aspid. microsorum, Endl. Fl. No7\folk, 



p. 9 {excl. Aspid. quinquangulare, Kze. in Linnaa, xxiii. p. 

 302.) Aspid. Shepherdi, Kze. in Lhinaa, xxiii. p. 230. Las- 

 trea atro-virens, J. Sm. Cat. Cult. Ferns, p. 59. Aspid. 

 acuminatum, Lowe, Fil. vi. /. 11. Hook. fil. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 

 p. 39. t. 79 {small specimen, less compound than usual, but 

 ivith larger pinnules ; otherivise excellent) . Hook. fil. Fl. 

 Tasman. \\. p. 149. Aspid., Metten. Aspid. p. 71 [who refers 

 hither the Aspid. quinquangulare, Kze. in Linnaa, xxiii. p. 

 302, from West Africa). N. microsorum, Endl. Fl. Norf. 

 p. 9. — Var. /3, micropJiyllum ; pinnules small, fronds generally 

 more compound. Nephrod. glabellum, All. Cunn. in Comp. 

 to Bot. Mag. \\. p. 367- Metten. Aspid. p. 69. Lastrea da- 

 vallioides, Brack. Fil. U. St. Expl. Exp. p. 202. 



Ilab. Var. a, macrophyllum. Australia, probably universal, J?roi/'w(PortJarkson), 

 Victoria, Mueller, Robinson, and as far north as Moreton Bay, Mueller, Hill, etc. 

 North-west Australia, Bynoe. Tasmania, Gunn, Hooker fil. Norfolk Island, com- 

 mon, Me;«.ries,iJat{er,e/c. — Var. /3, microphyllum. Rare in Australia, Clarence River, 

 Dr. Beekler {Mueller), specimens large, 2 feet and more long. New Zealand, 

 Northern Island, abundant. Cook's Straits, Dr. Lyall, the only form of the plant 

 in these islands. Tahiti, Brackenridye. Ngau, Fiji Islands, Milne. Tasmania, 

 Stuart {Mueller). — An extremely variable species, as Dr. Hooker has justly ob- 

 served ; and such variations are more common among the compound Ferns than 

 the less ramified ones. 



146. N. (Lastrea) pubescens, Desv. ; caudex creeping the 

 thickness of a goose-quill scaly, stipites solitary a span to 1 ^ 



