HorLowavy.—Studies in the New Zealand Hymenophyllaceae. 67 
Studies in the New Zealand Hymenophyllaceae: Part 2 — The Dis- 
tribution of the Species throughout the New Zealand Biological 
Region. 
By the Rev. J. E. Hottoway, D.Sc., F.N.Z.Inst., Hutton Memorial 
Medallist. 
[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 6th December, 1922 ; received by 
Editor, 8th December, 1922 ; issued separately, 26th May, 1924.] 
CONTENTS. 
Page 
— 
: . The yer `Е bres - - covering, “and Distribution of the Hymeno- 
phyllaceae East of the Southern Al А 
. The Eastern Flanks of the vti Alps ij TP. | 
B. The Intermediate Montane i po 
С. res Eastern Outlying Mackie of Canterbury oe 
mparison with Westland 
Il. The sar Distribution of the е Species in other Parts of the New 
aland Biological Region 
A. South Island . 
B. North Island . 
C. The Outlying Islands Se 2% . 89 
ПІ. General Conclusions .. um а = 24 A emp s 
Literature cited . T as boy ne is ‚. `94 
INTRODUCTORY. 
IN a previous paper (18) I have given an account of my observations in the 
wet district of Westland on the distribution and growth-forms of the species 
of the New Zealand fern-genera Hymenophyllum and Trichomanes, including 
in it, from observations made in other parts of New Zealand, an account 
as a standard for comparison with ecological data concerning this fer 
family puce: in other and drier districts of the New Zealand Biological 
egion 
In a well-known paper; entitled “ Тһе Geographical Distribution of 
Ferns,” published in the Transactions of the Linnean Society in 1868, 
J. G. Baker observed that “with the precision of an hygrometer, an 
increase in үе fern vegetation (it may be in species, or it may be in the 
number luxuriance of individuals, but usually in both) marks the 
wooded ла regions." The filmy ferns, being as a family specially 
adapted to humid conditions, respond very quickly in their manner of 
. distribution, and, in the case of many of the species, in their growth-forms 
also, to variations in the atmospheric humidity, as was shown in my pape 
quoted above. e species of this family, then, will undoubtedly serve 
as indicators of the climate of the forest-interior of any particular locality, 
and the indications will be found not only in the presence or absence of 
individual species, their анаа abundance and luxuriance, and in 
2 growth- тре adopted by them, but also in the exact station taken 
them in the forest. In the present paper I propose to trace the 
distribution of. the family more especially in the comparatively dry Eastern 
g* 
