CoLENSo. — Description of new Plants. 339 



time it has been a puzzler, as it was not originally found bearing fruit, and 

 its riclily crisped very membraneous form was so widely different from all 

 our New Zealand ferns ; yet, fi-om its regular and simple venation, etc., I 

 supposed it to be closely allied to P. pennigeram. This is now proved, from 

 the plants in cultivation having produced fruitful fronds bearing similar 

 sori, whence this description is in part made ; but another great and striking 

 difference is the not-meeting of the lower pair of veins (as in that species), 

 the lobes being separated much beyond them ; and this character (if con- 

 stant) would cause the removal of this fern from Goniopteris. There are also 

 other and great differences between these two ferns ; still, I cannot bring 

 myself to consider them as really specific — time, however, will show. I 

 have very great pleasure in naming this pretty plant after its zealous dis- 

 coverer. 

 Polypodium (Goyiiopteris) pennigerimi, Forst., var. giganteum, W.C. 



Whole plant, pretty nearly as P. pennigeruni, is described in "Handbook 

 Flora of N.Z." (and in other botanical works), but with these differences: — 

 Fronds, 5-6 feet long, 14-16 inches wide, broad-oblong lanceolate ; stipes 

 very stout, woody, semi-circular, deeply channelled on upper surface, and 

 marked on both upper outer edges with a continuous white ridge, scaly 

 below ; scales scarious, large, 2-8 lines long, ovate, rich dark-brown, 

 elegantly reticulated ; rhachis and midribs of pinnules, hairy (hirsute) above; 

 pinnules 7-8 inches long, IJ inch broad, broadest at base, sub-petiolate, 

 acute, alternate, distant, patent, largely and regularly conniving towards 

 apex but not falcate ; lobes 7-8 lines long, 2-2i- lines broad, linear-oblong, 

 slightly falcate, rather distant, toothed, margin recurved, and slightly and 

 sparsely hairy at tips and edges ; sinus between the lobes acute ; each lobe 

 with 9-10 pairs of veins, lowest two pairs of veins opposite, those above 

 sub-opposite, and all bearing a single sorus, the lowermost two veins 

 meeting the opposite two above them, and so generally throughout the 

 pinnule ; the lowermost pair of lobes on each pinnule are the longest, 

 the lowermost lobe is auricled, the auricle bearing 1-2 sori extra on 

 small veinlets. 



Hab. — Skirts of woods and thickets, head of Eiver Manawatu ; 1875- 

 1881. 



This fern seems to be a large var. of P. pennigermn, possessing however 

 several characters differing from that plant, which are noted above. P. 

 pennigeruni, the common form, is also plentiful in the same localities. I 

 have long known this plant, but should not care to bring it forward, were it 

 not for the still more striking var. (or species) discovered by Mr. Hamilton 

 (supra). 



