Bvcnaxax.— On the Botany of Kawau Island. 527 
Festuca duriuscula, L. Certainly not indigenous on Kawau. 
Hymenophyllum minimum, A. Rich. Certainly not indigenous on Kawau. 
bivalve, Swartz. Some form of H. multifidum, Swartz, has 
been mistaken for H. bivalve, which does not occur, even at Cape 
Colville, under 2,000 feet altitude. 
Nore.— [I am indebted to Mr. Kirk, who is well acquainted with the 
botany of the Auckland district, for several additional species collected by 
him on Kawau Island not found by myself there. They are distinguished 
in the lists by the addition of Mr. Kirk’s name.—J. B.] 
Art, LXXIV.—On the Root-stock of Marattia fraxinea, Smith. 
By Jonn Bucuanan, F.L.S. 
[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 29th August, 1877.] 
Tue root-stock, or rhizome of Marattia, is described by Hooker, in the 
“ Flora of New Zealand,” as “a large-rounded, hard, fleshy mass, as large as 
the head,” and, in the ** Handbook of the New Zealand Flora," as “a large 
tuberous rhizome." Again, De Vriese and Harting, in their ** Illustrated 
Monograph of Ferns," published at Leyden, in 1858, describe it as “a 
_ succulent irregularly-shaped tuberous mass upon which the stems are 
articulated.” 
As no additional information is given in the more recent accessible 
work on Ferns, “ Species Filicum of Hooker and Baker,” I have been in- 
duced to place before the Society the result of observations made on the 
New Zealand species of this genus Marattia fraxinea, Sm., as to its method 
of reproduction by the root, which may add to our knowledge on this sub- 
ject. The rhizome, or root-stock of the New Zealand species, is composed 
of an irregular agglomerated mass of thick fleshy scales, each scale being 
formed by the enlargement of a stipe base, the stipe separating by an arti- 
culation above the swelling, after the frond has performed its functions. 
The articulated surface of the scale shows a scar mark much resembling 
the imprint of a horse-hoof. 
Such a root-stock approaches the scaly bulb more in structure than a 
fern rhizome, but without a central mass round which the scales might be 
arranged in order. 
The continued addition of new seales outwards and upwards often raises 
the rhizome above the surface of the ground, but the frond-buds of those 
scales only which are in contact with the soil throw out independent roots. 
This form of root-stock may therefore be named a scaly sub-ariel 
rhizome, without internodes. 
