■Schizced\ i. — filices. 95 



Fronds 4-12 in. long; fertile segment 



^-1 in. long ; spikes 10-20 2. S. fistulosa. 



Fronds terete or semiterete, forked. 



Fronds 6-18 in. long; once or twice 



forked 3. S. bifida. 



Fronds jiattetied, Jlabellately forked 



above 4. S. dichotoma. 



1. S. auStraliS, GavdiclMud. 



" Stipes dense, very short, dark chestnut-brown, passing gradually 

 into the wiry subterete frond, which is 1-2 in. long, about \ line 

 thick, simply channelled in front; fertile segment suberect, \ in. 

 long, unilateral, with about 6 short stout nearly spreading spikes 

 on each side, the lowest ^ in. long." 



Synonyi-iis. — S. palmata and S. pectinata, Homhr. et Jacq. ; S. 

 fistulosa, var. Australis, Hooh.f. 



Distribution. — Falkland and Auckland Islands, which latter 

 habitat being in the New Zealand region and frequently visited 

 (which the Kermadec Islands are not) by whalers, sealers, and 

 others, I have thought it advisable to include this little Antarctic 

 •species in my list. I have not seen the plant, the description being 

 taken from the " Synopsis Filicum." 



2. S. fistulosa, Labill. (PI. III. fig. 11a.) 



Stipes simple, terete, deeply grooved in front, chestnut-brown, 

 passing gradually into the frond, which is 4-12 in. long (rarely as 

 much as 20 in.), rigid, rush-like, ^^-^jSj^ in. diam. ; fertile segment 

 ^-1 in. long, suberect, with 8-20 close slender pinnules on each side, 

 \-\ in. long, whose edges are torn and toothed. 



Synonyms. — S. valdiviana, PhU.; S. bifida, Hooh.f. (in part) ; S. 

 propinqua, A. Cunn. (in part). ^ 



Distribution. — Australia, Tasmania, New Caledonia, Chili and 

 Madagascar ; also in Chatham Islands. 



A plant of wide range, but of local occurrence in New Zealand, 

 and usually found growing in miserably cold, wet, or poor soils. In 

 the North Island, it occurs from Whangarei and Bay of Islands to 

 the Thames, chiefly in Manuka scrub, and in the latter locality 

 ascending to 2,000 ft. In the South Island, it has been gathered in 

 Canterbury and on the W. Coast of Otago. I have myself gathered 

 it, in a stunted condition, in peaty swamps in Stewart Island, at the 

 head of Paterson Inlet. 



The plants of this genus are most difficult to cultivate, and, with 

 one or two exceptions, are not to be found even in the best-stocked 

 ferneries of England. Our species form no exception to this rule. 



