Lomaria] I. — filices. 65 



In cultivation this fern succeeds well if it be provided with a 

 habitat sufficiently like that which it is always found in, in the 

 native state. It must have shade and moisture in abundance, and 

 grows best in a constant drip. 



2. L, discolor, WUM. //-(^^-^^ . 



Rhizome thick, ascending into a short trunk, 1-3 ft. high, from 

 the summit of which the crown of fronds is given off. Stipes 3-6 in. 

 long, strong, glossy, clothed below with long, linear-subulate scales. 

 Fronds 1-3 ft. long, pale-green above, red-brown below, very coria- 

 ceous; sterile 3-6 in. broad, narrowing gradually at both extremities; 

 segments numerous, spreading, contiguous, linear, 1^-3 in. long, cut 

 almost to the rachis, margin wavy ; fertile fronds with very narrow 

 segments (sometimes the lower half is sterile and leafy). 



Synonyms. — Onoclea nuda, Lahill.; Stegania nuda and S. falcata, / 

 R. Br.; Osmunda discolor. Worst. P. 



Distribution. — Australia, Tasmania, Norfolk Island, and in the 

 Chatham, Auckland and Campbell Islands. 



A very abundant species in New Zealand, ranging from N. Cape 

 to Stewart Island, and occurring chiefly in the more open tracts of 

 bush land, where there is not too much undergrowth and moisture. 



It is a very hardy species, and will grow in almost any soil; under 

 good treatment it attains immense proportions, bearing a tuft of 

 fronds 6 ft. or more in diameter. 



L. attenuata, WUM., 



is usually described as a New Zealand fern ; but as it only grows in 

 the Kermadec Islands, it can hardly be termed so, strictly. It is a 

 very wide-ranging species in other parts of the world. It may be 

 distinguished from L. discolor by its creeping rhizome, its usually 

 shorter alternate fronds, which are not red-brown below, and its 

 linear-lanceolate pinnules, which are broad at the base and narrow 

 to an acuminate apex. 



3. L. vulcanica, Bhime. 



Rhizome very stout, woody, erect or sub-prostrate ; stipes 4-8 in. 

 long, pale, erect, with numerous blackish subulate scales at the base. 

 Fronds ovate-lanceolate or deltoid, 6-18 in. long, almost pinnate 

 below ; barren bright-green and coriaceous ; segments spreading, 

 lanceolate, 2-4 in. long, slightly dUated at the base, margin thickened 

 and more or less crenate, lowest pair deflexed ; fertile very narrow, 

 suddenly dilated at the base, distant. 



Synonyms. — L. pilosa, Brack. ; L. deflexa and L. deltoidea, 

 Colenso. ■ 



Distribution. — Tasmania, Polynesian Islands and Java. 



This is rather local in its occurrence in New Zealand, though 

 ranging from Foveaux Straits to Auckland. It has been recorded 

 from nearly every region of both islands, but can only be called an 



6 



