68 
New Zealand Ferns 
(23) T. Lyallii (Mr. Lyall). The daintiest, most 
delicate little fern, often broader than it is long, shaped 
like a fairy fan, sometimes covering with a feathery 
green mat the trunk of every tree and sapling within a 
radius of many yards. 
Description . — Roots branched, creeping, hair-like. Stalks 
slender, thread-like, 1 to 2 inches long. Fronds fin. to If inches 
long by fin. to If inches broad, delicately membranous, nearly 
transparent, light-green. Seeds large for the size of the frond, 
at the tips of the leaflets, giving them the appearance of being 
cut off square. 
Not uncommon from Kaipara southwards in dense moist 
forests, except on the East Coast of the South Island, where it 
is rare and local. Sea-level to 3,000 feet. 
The species is intermediate between Trichomancs and 
Hymenophyllum, and was classed under the latter genus 
by Dr. Hooker in his great work on the ferns of the 
world. There is no bristle protruding from the seed. 
An exquisite little fern, found nowhere but in New Zea- 
land. 
