50 I. — FiLicES. \Cystopteris 



Genus X.— GYSTOPTERIS,* BernJmrdi. (PI. II. fig. 1.) 



Rhizome short, creeping, or suberect under the surface. Fronds 

 small, tufted, pinnate or 2-pinnate, thin in texture, veins free. Sori 

 globose, small, inserted on the back of the veins, distant from the 

 margin. Involucre membranaceous, suborbicular, attached by a 

 broad base under the sorus, and at first covering it like a hood. 

 Capsules pedicelled, with a dorsal striate ring. 



1. C. fragiliS, Bemhardi. {Bladder-fern.) 



Stipes 2-4 in. long, slender, brittle, glabrous. Fronds 3-8 in. long, 

 l|^-2 in. broad, oblong- or ovate-lanceolate, or 1- or 2-pinnate ; main 

 rachis slightly winged above ; primary pinnse rather remote, lanceo- 

 late- or ovate-deltoid ; pinnules oblong-rhomboid, cut down to a 

 broad central space into bluntly or sharply-toothed lobes. 



Synonym. — C. novse-zaelandiae, J. B. Armstrong. 



Distribution. — Found in all parts of both N. and S. temperate 

 zones and in mountains in the intermediate tropical zones. Occurs 

 in Britain. 



By no means a common fern in New Zealand, and very local in its 

 occurrence. Except on the ranges near Mt. Egmont, I am not 

 aware that it has been gathered in the North Island. In the South 

 Island it occurs along the whole of the mountain ranges from 

 Nelson to Foveaux Straits, and also on Banks' Peninsula, at eleva- 

 tions usually of 1,000-4,000 ft. It is quite a subalpine plant, and is 

 to be sought for in dry open ground, and particularly among the 

 clefts of rocks and stones. The typical European form is larger and 

 more robust than ours, with usually more divided leaves, and a more 

 persistent involucre. 



Genus XI.— LINDSAY A,t Dryomder. (PI. II. fig. 2.) 



Rhizome creeping or tufted. Fronds usually compound, coriaceous ; 

 veins free. Sori linear along the margin or near and parallel with 

 it. Involucre double, opening outwards, the inner valve mem- 

 branous, the outer formed of the more or less changed margin of the 

 frond. 



Fronds pinnate, linear; pinnae uni- 

 lateral 1. L. liaearis. 



Fronds 2- or 3-pinnate ; pinnae equi- 

 lateral. 

 Fronds lanceolate, membranous ; 

 pinnae alternate, veins usually 



simple 2. L. viridis. 



Fronds broadly-ovate, coriaceous ; 



pinnae opposite, veins branched 3. L. trichomanoides. 



* Gr. Oystos, a bladder, from the inflated involucre. 



•f In honour of Dr. Lindsay, a cryptogamic botanist of Jamaica. 



