40 DESCRIPTIONS OF N.Z. FERNS. 



branches again ; so that in a perfect frond there are sixteen pinnae radiating horizon- 

 tally from the stipes and drooping over like the ribs of an umbrella. There are 

 sometimes rudimentary pinnules between the top of the stipes and the next fork, but 

 the regular ones begin at the latter. The pinnules are very long and narrow, 

 pectinately arranged and extending nearly to the costae of the pinnae. Their colour 

 is pale (sometimes silver grey) below, and dark green above, and their edges entire. 

 They are also sometimes scaly or hairy below. The costae are darkish brown, and 

 scaly or furry below. There is a densely-scaly bud in the fork on the top of the 

 stipes ; and from this a second short stipes arises, bearing a second crown. A third 

 often arises above this ; and in one instance I found a frond with five crowns, one 

 above another. Each crown is, of course, smaller than the one below it, and the 

 whole frond presents a curious and beautiful appearance. The sori are very small, 

 and consist of few exposed capsules ; never more than six, and often single ; and the 

 margin of the pinnule curves over slightly as a proteftion to them, though they are 

 close to the costae. This fern is usually only found in bush and on the tops of high 

 ridges, though I have seen it growing on level ground in several places near Ruapehu, 

 and in one case it occurs close to sea-level and in open ground near Auckland. It 

 occurs all over the colony, and becomes scaly or hairy below at high levels. 



Though there is apparently no reason why this fern should not thrive well in 

 cultivation, yet it appears to be one of the most difficult to grow. I have had many 

 plants of it, but never succeeded in saving one of them. In some cases where I have 

 taken up a young plant bodily with a large lump of soil in which it grew, it has lingered 

 on for a time, only to die at last, and the same ill fortune has befallen other fern 

 growers. In one instance a little plant thus struggled on for three years, only to die 

 at last. The only case, which I have aftually seen, of one of these plants being 

 successfully shifted, was where no particular care was taken. A gentleman, who had 

 no idea that the fern was difficult to move, brought a plant from the West Coast of 

 the Middle Island to Wanganui. He seems to have taken no special care in digging 

 it up, or in protefting it on its journey ; and on reaching home he put it in the ground 

 in a sheltered corner, on the shady side of his house, where it has grown well for some 

 years. A fern coUeftor in Auckland is said to have succeeded in moving the fern by 

 sinking a box of mould in the ground beside a plant, and training rhizomes into it, 

 cutting them off from the parent plant when they had got fully established and were 

 producing fronds ; but I did not see any of the plants that had been thus moved. It 

 is, however, a very likely way in which to transplant the fern, and is well worth trying. 

 I have seen plants at Christchurch and Dunedin that had been grown from spores, 

 and were thriving well, and this appears the most likely way in which to succeed with 

 this fern. Beyond the slight differences in colour and scaliness which I have noted, 

 there seem to be no variations. 



