124 
New Zealand Ferns 
XI. ADIANTUM 
ADIANTUM (adiantos, unwetted; from the 
property the leaves have of throwing off water). “Maid- 
enhair,” so called from the slender, hair-like stalks, or 
because it is sometimes made into a wash to promote 
the growth of hair. A very distinct genus of about 80 
species, with 6 species and 1 variety in New Zealand. 
Seeds marginal, kidney-shaped in the New Zealand 
species. 
A. FULVUM 
(47) A. aethiopicum (African). “Makaka,” “The 
True Maidenhair.” Easily distinguished by the small 
roundish leaflets and the black, hair-like stalks. Usually 
growing in masses to the exclusion of other plants be- 
neath manuka or small scrub. 
Description . — Root creeping, sending out suckers. Stalks 4 
to 10 inches high, very slender, dark-brown, almost black, shining, 
smooth. Fronds 6 to 12 inches long by 3 to 6 inches broad, erect 
or drooping, pale-green, very thin and membranous. Secondary 
leaf-stalks hair-like. Seeds placed in notches on the outer margins 
of the leaflets. 
North Island: Plentiful in lowland districts from the North 
Cape to the Thames and Waikato ; from thence rare and local to 
Hawke’s Bay and Taranaki. South Island doubtful. 
