DESCRIPTIONS OF N.Z. FERNS. 143 



bringing home large slices of the birch bark, with young plants on them, but I always 

 found that the plants died as the bark decayed, so that I fancy the fern is a parasite, 

 sucking the birch sap. 



GENUS NOTHOCHL^NA (No-tho-kle-na), 

 From "nothos," spurious; "chlaina," a cloak; so named on account of the hairy edges 

 sometimes partially covering the sori, and forming a sort of spurious involucre. It 

 has large sori, at first round or oblong, but soon confluent into a continuous line 

 without involucre, but often with deflexed edge. Veins free. Differs from Cheilanthes 

 only by absence of distinct involucres, and connected with that genus by gradual 

 intermediate stages, so as to make it doubtful whether they are not merely forms of 

 one class of plants. Only one fern of this genus occurs in New Zealand, vis : 



NOTHOCHLtENA DISTANS (No-tho-kle-na dis-tans), 



PLATE XVI., No. 3, 

 Which is found in Australia and New Caledonia, as well as in New Zealand. So 

 far as is known, it occurs only locally in the Colony, but as it is a small plant, and 

 shrivels up in dry weather, it is possibly more common than is generally supposed. It 

 grows on the volcanic rocks about Auckland, on Ruapehu, Mt. Egmont, Kapiti Island 

 in Cook's Straits, the Port Hills near Christchurch, and other parts of the Canterbury 

 District, where it is said to ascend to 3000 feet elevation, (even higher on Ruapehu 

 and Egmont), while at Mt. Eden, near Auckland, I saw it within 400 feet of sea-level 

 and at Kapiti it grows close to the beach. In all cases, however, it occurs on dry 

 open places, and very generally in crevices of the rocks. 



It has slender, woolly, creeping rhizomes, from which tufts of few fronds arise at 

 short distances. Stipes long, stiff, red, or chocolate-coloured, with a good many 

 narrow, dark-red scales scattered over it. Rachis and costa same colour, and very 

 scaly. Fronds long, narrow, oblong, obtusely-pointed, bi-pinnate. Pinnae, distant, in 

 opposite pairs, pointing slightly upwards. Pinnules also in pairs, more or less deeply 

 lobed, and having deflexed margins. Sori in a line (sometimes in two) just within the 

 margin, and almost confluent. Texture coriaceous and hairy ; colour dark olive- 

 green. It is a most easy fern to cultivate in sandy soil, and very soon sends up fresh 

 tufts all over the pot. It will also stand an amount of drought that would kill almost 

 any other fern. Even when it has been neglefted, and is to all appearance withered 

 and dead, a good watering will cause new fronds to spring up in a few days, so that I 

 wonder the plant is not more common, and, as I have already said, I fancy it really is 

 so, but escapes notice, from fern-lovers generally collefting such plants in dry weather, 

 when this is withered. 



GENUS GYMNOGRAMMA (Gym-no-gram-ma), 

 So called from the naked linear sori (" gymnos," naked ; "gramma," a line) ; has sori 



