58 DESCRIPTIONS OF N.Z. FERNS. 



HYMENOPHYLLUM DEMISSUM. (Hi-men-o-fil-lum de-mis-sum.) 



PLATE XVIII., No. 1. 



This is one of our most abundant Hymenophylla, and grows on the ground as 

 well as on trunks of trees and fern-tree stems in all the wooded parts of the Colony. 

 In the former case, however, the fronds are usually rather broadly triangular, while in 

 the latter they are generally oval, and sometimes very long in proportion to their width. 

 The rhizome is black, wiry, and creeping. Stipes of moderate length, stiff, black or 

 dark brown, and shining. Rachis the same but narrowly winged. Costae more widely 

 so. Fronds, six to nine inches long, tri or quadri-pinnatifid, the pinnae and secondary 

 pinnae being almost stalked and pointing upward. Pinnules more or less fan-shaped, 

 and divided into long narrow lobes. Texture thin, colour bright green. This fern 

 seems to care less about moisture than most of the Hymenophylla, as it is often found 

 growing on the ground on the tops of ridges, though always in bush, as well as on tree- 

 trunks and fern-tree stems at a lower level. It is consequently an easy one to culti- 

 vate in glazed cases or under bell glasses and very effeftive in appearance. Leaf- 

 mould, or sand mixed with rotten sawdust, or pounded rotten wood suit it well. Dried 

 and pressed fronds smell like seaweed. There are various forms of this fern, to some 

 of which distinct names have been given. Mr. Colenso's " Hymenophyllum erecto- 

 alatum" has the wings prolonged for a short distance down the stipes and redder sori 

 than usual. It is a small form found near Norsewood. His " Hymenophyllum 

 megalocarpum " is the same with remarkably large reddish sori, and involucres much 

 wider than the lobes on which they grow. It occurs in open bush land near Norsewood 

 and Dannevirke. A form found in the high country towards the head of the Wanganui 

 river has the texture of the fronds, harsh and sub-coriaceous, instead of membranous, 

 and the colour is a dark olive green; but the plant does not differ in any other 

 important particular. The Otago form is narrower and longer in its foliage than the 

 North Island ones. This plant in various forms extends from Java and the Philippines 

 southward through the Polynesian Islands and New Zealand. 



HYMENOPHYLLUM POLYANTHOS. (Hi-men-o-fil-lum po-ly-an-thos.) 



PLATE XXVIII., No. 7. 



This is probably the commonest Hymenophyllum in the Colony, as it is plentiful 

 everywhere in our forests, where it grows in dense mats on the trunks and branches of 

 trees, as well as on rotten logs. It varies greatly in size and shape, being sometimes 

 less than half an inch long and at others more than a foot. In small plants the fronds 

 are usually oval or lanceolate in shape, while in large ones they become broadly tri- 

 angular and often have the apex of the frond and the tips of the pinnae narrowed into 

 quite long tails. Sometimes they are all tail, being a foot long by only half an inch 

 wide. The rhizomes are rather stout and usually wiry, and the stipes short, stout, 



