DavaUia] I. — filices. 49 



attached by a broad base, the apex always and the sides often free. 

 Capsules stalked, with a dorsal striate ring. 



Fronds 3-pinnate. Sori on the teeth 



of the segments 1 . D. novse-zselandise. 



Fronds 4 -pinnate. Sori minute, 

 ^ terminal 2. D. forsteri. 



1. D. novee-zselandise, Golenso. (Pi. I fig. 9.) 



Rhizome creeping, stout, covered with yellowish-brown filiform 

 scales. Stipes 3-8 in. long, firm, erect, red-brown and glossy, quite 

 glabrous or slightly hairy below. Fronds 6-18 in. long, 4-8 broad 

 (sometimes 4 ft. long and IJ ft. broad in very robust specimens), 

 tri-pinnate, deltoid, ovate or oblong, acuminate, cut to the rachis — • 

 except towards the apex — into oblong-lanceolate segments, which are 

 deeply pinnatifid ; ultimate segments linear, acute. Sori numerous 

 on the teeth of the segments ; involucre orbicular, open at the apex 

 and sides. 



Synonym. — Acrophorus hispidus, Moore. 



Distribution. — Confined to New Zealand, where it has a very wide 

 range — from the Bay of Islands to Foveaux Straits. This is a very 

 handsolne fern, of a most elegant and delicate appearance, and it 

 is one which grows readily under cultivation, requiring only a shady 

 nook and a moderate supply of water. In the North Island, and 

 particularly in the more humid parts, it attains very, large propor- 

 tions, and is a magnificent plant. Its nearest ally in the genus is 

 B. pulchra, a North Indian species. 



3. D. forsteri, Can-uthers. 



" Stipes 6-8 in. long, naked, stramineous. Fronds 6 in. long, 

 rhomboid, 4-pinnate ; pinnae and pinnules ascending, rhomboid, 

 stalked, the lowest the largest, cuneate-truncate on lower side at base; 

 final segments ligulate-cuneate, 2-4 lines long, under |- line broad, 

 texture subcoriaceous, surfaces naked. Sori minute, terminal, with 

 lamina produced on both sides as a border." 



Synonym. — Adiantum clavatum, Forst. 



This fern is probably more " wanted " by fern-collectors in New 

 Zealand than any other. It was gathered by Forster at Dusky Sound,. 

 in the S.W. of Otago, about the year 1772, during Cook's second 

 voyage to these islands, and from the specimens then preserved the 

 above description was drawn up. It has apparently never been 

 collected again. It belongs to a totally difierent section of the genus 

 from B. novm-zcelandicK, and is most nearly allied to B. scoparia, a 

 species from New Caledonia. 



