28 
New Zealand Ferns 
(2) H. polyanthos (many flowers — in connection 
with the seed vessels) Var sanguinolentum (reddish). 
“Piri-piri.” A medium-sized species; fronds often 
curved ; leaflets closely set, undulating, of a somewhat 
opaque olive-green. 
Description . — Forming matted patches on the trunks or 
branches of trees, or on rotten logs. Root rather stout, creeping, 
usually bristly with reddish-brown hairs. Stalks stout, narrowly 
winged above. Fronds 2 to 9 inches long by 1 to 3 inches broad, 
erect or curved, dull-green to olive-green. Seeds small, usually 
on upper portion of leaf. Midrib sinuous. 
Abundant throughout the Dominion. Sea-level to 3,000 feet. 
The crowded tilted leaflets give the frond a thick ap- 
pearance. Sometimes it grows in extraordinary abun- 
dance, covering every trunk and branch with a lovely 
tapestry of transparent green. Its identity can be fixed 
with certainty in the course of drying for the herbarium 
as it stains the paper brown and gives off a peculiar 
scent, which hangs about the specimen for years. 
It is found in almost all tropical countries, but appar- 
ently not in Australia. 
