Gleichenia] i. — filices. 2T 



in. broad ; segments J-f in. long, linear, margins flat or recurved, 

 quite entire, often glaucous below. Capsules 2-4, usually exposed. 



Distribution. — Confined • to New Zealand. (Near a S. African 

 species, G. umbraculifera, Moore.) Tolerably common throughout 

 the N. Island, from the Bay of Islands southwards, but occurring 

 more locally in the S. Island. It becomes more abundant in the- 

 extreme south, and is common in Stewart Island. 



This species is considered by Mr. T. H. Potts to be the most 

 difficult of the N.Z. Gleichenias to cultivate. 



5. G. dichotoma, WiUd. 



Fronds 2-6 ft. high. Stipes zigzag, repeatedly di- or tri-chotomous, 

 the ultimate branches bearing a pair of forked pinnae ; a distinct 

 pair of pinnse also arises from the base of the forked branches (not 

 of the frond). Pinnse lanceolate, acuminate, pinnatifid ; segments- 

 linear, obtuse or emarginate, glaucous below. Capsules 10-12, 

 exposed. 



/Synonyms. — These are so numerous, owing to the number of 

 localities from which this fern has been described, that a list of them 

 would only serve to confuse the reader. 



Distribution. — Almost universally distributed throughout the 

 tropical and subtropical regions of both the New and Old Worlds, 

 ranging as far north as Japan. 



Only found in N.Z. in the Hot Spring district, where it is 

 abundant in several localities, as at Rotomahana, Orakeikorako, 

 and round L. Taupo, where it thrives best among the sulphurous 

 vapours. It has also been gathered at Matata in the Bay of Plenty. 

 This is the fern mentioned in the " N.Z. Handbook," p. 348, as. 

 having been erroneously introduced by Forster among his New 

 Zealand plants. Mr. Kirk has pointed out that probably Forster- 

 gathered it at some isolated locality in the Bay of Plenty or Poverty 

 Bay, but that his inclusion of i"t among the plants used by the- 

 Maories as food is apparently an error. 



In the S. Island this plant requires indoor cultivation, and the- 

 remark probably applies to the greater portion of the N. Island 

 also. Mr. J. Smith, formerly curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, 

 Kew, recommends the growth of all the species of Gleichenia in 

 shallow pans or boxes, as, in all, the rhizome creeps at only a short 

 distance below the surface of the ground. 



Genus II.— CYATHEA,* Smith. (PI. I. fig. 2.) 



Tree-ferns. Fronds bi- or tri-pinnate. Sori on the veins, or in 

 the axil of the forking of a vein, distant from the margin, globose. 

 Involucre inferior, globose, covering the whole sorus, afterwards 

 bursting irregularly at the summit, forming a more or less persistent 



* Gr. Kyathos, a cup, from the onp-shaped indusium. 



