64 
New Zealand Ferns 
II. TRICHOMANES 
TRICHOMANES (thrix, a hair; manos, soft). 
“Bristle ferns.” A genus of about 90 species, with 7 in 
New Zealand. Small filmy ferns, differing from Hy- 
menophyllum by the presence of a hair, or short spike, 
proceeding from the trumpet-shaped seed vessel, except 
in T. Lyallii, which is intermediate between Hymeno- 
phyllum and Trichomanes. 
( 22 ) T.reniforme ( kidney-shaped ) . “Rau-renga,” 
“Kidney-fern.” Distinguished at once by its broad kid- 
ney-shaped fronds, quite entire and of a pellucid green. 
Description . — Root stout, hard, wide-creeping; rootlets woolly. 
Stalks 2 to 8 inches long, erect, wiry, smooth. Fronds 2 to 4 
inches broad, of the purest light-green when young, dark-green 
when old, glossy, undulating. Seeds very numerous in a fringe 
round the margin of the leaf. 
Abundant in damp woods throughout the Dominion except 
the East Coast of the South Island, where it is rare and local. 
Sea-level to 3,000 feet. 
