DESCRIPTIONS OF N.Z. FERNS. 43 



the under side, but on the upper one the black gradually shades into yellowish brown. 

 The rachis and costae are yellowish brown above, and on the underside shade 

 gradually from black to the same brown as the upper one. When they first appear, 

 the stipes, rachis, and costae are densely clothed with long, narrow, sharp-pointed, 

 black scales, but these soon disappear, with the exception of a few at the base of the 

 stipes, the places from which they have become detached being marked by little 

 pointed tubercles, which make the whole framework of the frond feel rough and harsh. 

 The fronds are broadly lanceolate, the widest part being usually above the centre, 

 and of a bright green below, and rather darker green above. They are tri-pinnate, 

 the primary pinnae being long and narrow, the lower ones having rather long stalks, 

 and the middle and upper ones being almost stalkless. The secondary pinnae are 

 shortly stalked, and cut right down to their costae into sub-falcate pinnules, of which 

 the length is about three times the breadth. The lower pinnules are stalked, which 

 makes the frond tri-pinnate instead of merely bi-pinnate, and the rest broadly sessile ; 

 the edges at first being either entire, or only very slightly indented into rounded lobes ; 

 but the indentations deepen, and the edges curl over, as the sori develop. The sori 

 are so numerous as almost to cover the under surface of the pinnules, and are of a 

 globular form. They open at the top so as to form a cup, disclosing the spore- 

 capsules crowded together on an upright club-shaped receptacle, and surrounded by 

 an incomplete ring. Surfaces of pinnules quite smooth and shining. This fern is 

 found throughout the North Island, as well as in the adjacent and Chatham Islands, 

 but is scarce, or wanting, all down the East side of the Middle Island, though it crops 

 up again in Stewart's Island. It does not seem to ascend to so high an altitude above 

 sea-level as some of the other plants of its class. The pith is called " pitau " by the 

 Maoris, and is very sweet but slimy. This sliminess, however, disappears when it is 

 sliced thin, and steamed for a long time in a Maori " hangi " (cooking- pit), after 

 which the slices are threaded on a string and hung up to dry, when they taste very 

 much like American dried apples, and form wholesome food. As the pinna on the 

 plate had to be so reduced, the charafter of the lobing could not be shewn on it and 

 therefore an enlarged pinnule is drawn below it. Mr. Colenso describes what appears 

 to be a variety of this fern, under the name of " Cyathea polyneuron." It occurs in 

 Hawke's Bay Provincial Distrift, and is distinguished by a stouter caudex, densely 

 covered with long black hairs, hair or wool on the veins and veinlets, and verv stout 

 stipes which, as well as the rachis, is marked with a light-coloured stripe along each 

 side. They are also densely covered with long silky brown scales, and an undergrowth 

 of plush-like blackish brown hairs. The costae and costules are also hairy and woolly, 

 and the under surface of the pinnules thickly covered with silky light brown scales 

 sprinkled with long dark brown hairs. These differences may arise from the plant 

 growing in an exposed place, on Hmestone soil, as I have noticed the light stripes on 



