104 
New Zealand Ferns 
(38) D. fibrosa (fibrous). “Wheki-ponga.” A me- 
dium-sized tree-fern, with a stout columnar trunk every- 
where thickly coated with matted, fibrous aerial root- 
lets; not found in the North. 
Description . — Trunk 8 to 20 feet high, stout, columnar, coated 
with matted aerial rootlets, giving it a diameter when mature of 
from 1 to 2 feet. Stalks very short, clothed at the base with 
bright red-brown scales. Fronds numerous, 30 or more, spread- 
ing, 4 to 8 feet long by 1^ to 2 feet broad, not so harsh as D. 
squarrosa. Seeds small, very numerous, covering the whole back 
of the frond. 
From Tauranga and middle Waikato southwards abundant. 
Sea-level to 2,500 feet. 
A handsome, sturdy-looking species very closely allied 
to D. antarctica, and so named in the earlier works, but 
it is a much smaller plant, with smaller seeds. Confined 
to New Zealand. The Maoris used to slice the outside 
of the trunk into slabs for the construction of their food- 
houses (whare puni), as they found the fibrous material 
almost impervious to rats. An easily cultivated plant, 
the spreading crown hardly affected by sun or wind. 
