14 
New Zealand Ferns 
ing to medium-sized specimens. Had I attempted to 
portray curiosities, abnormal, bifurcated, or crested 
forms there would have been no end to the illustrations. 
Some species and varieties of ferns that have been 
announced in the “Transactions of the New Zealand 
Institute” since the publication of Mr. Cheeseman’s 
Manual, and others that appear to be worthy of note, 
I have recorded and illustrated. 
The colour of ferns varies according to age and lo- 
cality, the young fronds being of a much lighter fresher 
green than the mature ones. Exposure to the sun im- 
parts a yellow or golden green, sometimes a reddish 
brown. The green of the mature leaves differs less when 
placed side by side on a table than one would expect from 
their appearance in the bush. In the tree ferns there is 
a great similarity; Dicksonia squarrosa, D. Janata, and 
Cyathca dealbata being of almost exactly the same 
shade. When held up to the light, D. squarrosa looks a 
little darker. 
As most of my study and collecting of ferns has been 
in the Auckland Province, and my fernery is situated 
there, my experiences apply more especially to that part 
of the Dominion. 
The plates illustrating the manner in which the seeds 
are carried, both in Mr. Field’s book and the one I had 
published in 1880, were copied from Hooker and Baker’s 
“Synopsis Filicum.” In this edition I have adopted a 
more direct method. It occurred to me that an enlarged 
photograph of the actual leaf bearing the seeds would 
give a more faithful picture, and one more easily recog- 
nised. Thanks to the untiring skill and enthusiasm of 
Mr. F. W. Birch and the initial help of Mr. S. G. Frith 
and Mr. F. G. Radcliffe, I have succeeded beyond my 
expectations. Hooker’s plates are of little value to a 
New Zealand student; they give sketches of species 
usually unrepresented in this country. 
The work of an artist, however proficient, cannot be 
so exact as a photograph, and, as most of my illustra- 
