76 I. — FiLiCES. [Asphnium 



■linear-oblong segments. Sori on the disk of the more entire segments, 

 ) ^ten filling its whole breadth when mature, almost on the margin of 

 (;the more cut ones. 



Var. laxum (A. laxum, B. Br.). — Fronds more slender, usually 

 pendulous and more compound; segments narrow, with the sori 

 .almost marginal. 



Var. tripinnatum. — Fronds 3-pinnate, sori marginal ; — a transi- 

 tional form between A. hulhiferv/m and A. Jlaccidwm. 



Var. shuttleworthianum (A. shuttleworthianum, Kunze). — Fronds 

 large, 4-pinnatifid below. Another transitional form, sometimes 

 referred to A. Jlaccidum. 



Synonyms. — A. tremulum, and A. fabianum, Homhr. and Jacq.; 

 "Csenopteris appendiculata, Labill. 



Distribution. — Australia, Tasmania, New Caledonia, Samoa, 

 Penang, N. India, S.E. Africa and several of its islands. Central 

 America'*; also found in the Chatham Islands. 



Common throughout all parts of New Zealand, chiefly occun-ing 

 in damp woods. It is one of the most variable and also one of the 

 most beautiful species of the genus, and is very easily cultivated. It 

 passes into nearly all the other species of the section. 



7. A. richardi, EooLf. 



Rhizome short, stout, with subulate scales at its apex. Stipes 

 3-6 in. long, stout, greenish, scaly. Fronds tufted, 5-6 in. long, ovate, 

 acuminate; pinnae 1-1^ in. long, close-set, lanceolate, erecto-patent, 

 •cut down to a winged rachis into numerous crowded ovate or obovate 

 pinnules, which are again deeply pinnatifid into linear obtuse or 

 mucronate segments ; veins solitary in each segment. Sori solitary, 

 ■oblong, close to the margin of each segment. 



Synonyms. — A. adiantioides, var. richardi, Hook. f. ; A. raouUi, 

 ■var. richardi, Mettenius. 



Distribution. — Confined to New Zealand, and occurring locally in 

 various parts of the S. Island, and more sparingly in the N. Island. 

 It was originally collected near the mouth of the New River, at the 

 •extreme south end of the S. Island, but has been gathered at various 

 points in both the east and west of the Otago district ; also along the 

 lower heights of the Southern Alps, on the Malvern Hills, Banks' 

 Peninsula and in the Wellington district. 



This fern is probably not entitled to specific rank, being apparently 

 ■an intermediate form between A. hookeriamum and A.flacciokum, with 

 both of which it is connected by almost imperceptible gradations. 



8. A. flaccidum, Forst. (Pi. ill. fig. 2.) 



Rhizome stout, erect, with large, subulate, membranous scales 

 labove. Stipes 4-8 in. long, stout, greenish, naked above, scaly only 



