46 
New Zealand Ferns 
( 11 ) H. rufescens (reddish). A very curious little 
mountain fern, the stalks longer than the triangular 
leaves, the whole being covered with silky hairs that 
look like spun glass. 
Description .- — Root very slender, almost thread-like, creep- 
ing, clothed with soft spreading hairs. Stalks much longer than 
the leaf, 1 to 2 inches, hair-like. Fronds ^in. to 1^ inches long 
by ^in. to ^in. broad at the base, more or less covered with long 
silky hairs. 
North Island: Te Aroha, Ruahine Range, Mount Egmont. 
South Island: Nelson — Mount Arthur Plateau, Takaka Valley, 
Mount Rochefort; Westland; Stewart Island. 1,000 to 3,000 
feet. 
Nearest to H. flabellatum, some mountain forms of 
which approach it very closely, but are separated by the 
much longer hair-like stalks, the shorter, broader, more 
delicate fronds and the copious hairs. It often forms 
mats on the trunks of trees and the perpendicular faces 
of shaded rocks. 
It is confined to New Zealand. 
Note. — H. ciliatum is not included in this book, as it has been 
only once reported, and that 50 years ago. 
