38 
New Zealand Ferns 
( 7 ) H . dilatatum (widened). Easily recognised by 
the large size of its leaves and the great width of the 
ultimate divisions. The broad pellucid fronds look like 
a superfine seaweed. 
Description . — Root long, stout, wiry, smooth. Stalks 2 to 6 
inches long, winged almost to the base, wings not crinkly. Fronds 
remarkably handsome, pale-green to deep-green, erect or pendu- 
lous, 9 to 30 inches long, including the stalk, by 3 to 6 inches 
broad. Seeds numerous, terminating the ultimate divisions. 
Abundant in the woods throughout the Dominion. Sea-level to 
3,000 feet. 
A large and very handsome filmy fern, of a bright 
pellucid green, clothing the trunks and branches of trees 
and rotting stumps. I shall never forget my first sight 
of the glossy green leaves hanging in profuse luxuriance 
from the tree trunks. To one who had seen only the 
filmy ferns of England — an inch or two long — this was 
a positive giant. Even now, after 40 years in New 
Zealand, the glorious broad-leaved fronds fascinate me 
Given conditions like its natural environment, it can be 
grown as easily as the other filmy ferns. Found also in 
several of the Polynesian Islands and Java. 
