60 
New Zealand Ferns 
(20)//. multifidum (much cleft). A medium-sized 
filmy fern; the margins of the leaflets serrated like the 
two preceding species, but a much larger plant, finely 
cut, leaflets often overlapping. 
Description . — Root creeping, wiry. Stalks 1 to 5 inches long, 
wiry, naked. Fronds variable in size, usually 4 to 8 inches high, 
including stalks, but sometimes dwarfed to 1 inch, and occasion- 
ally attaining 12 inches, erect, curved, or even pendulous, dark 
olive-green to light-green, membranous. Margins of the leaflets 
serrate. Seeds few, large, mostly in the upper part of the frond. 
Abundant throughout the Dominion. Sea-level to 4,000 feet. 
This delicately beautiful fern is found growing in 
patches on the ground when the leaflets are close and 
overlapping, or on the trunks and branches of trees 
when they are more open. It is also found in Fiji and 
other Pacific Islands. 
