198 
New Zealand Ferns 
Even the parti-coloured leaves add an artistic charm, 
and the bright salmon-pink which the young fronds 
sometimes assume is indescribably beautiful. 
Needless to say, this was one of the species that grew 
spontaneously in my garden. The young fronds soon 
make their appearance after transplanting, and grow 
rapidly. In a specimen from swampy ground the soft 
young shoots were very tender, of a delicate reddish- 
green, that looked almost transparent, the leaves smooth 
and flat without any undulations, quite unlike the bright 
salmon-pink I have seen in specimens growing in drier 
localities. This abundant and very varied species was 
broken up into four varieties by Sir J. D. Hooker, but 
the definitions are hardly clear enough for anyone but 
a practised botanist to follow with any certainty. 
On the roads between Picton, Nelson, and Hokitika 
I passed along miles where the upper bank was fringed 
with the great sweeping fronds, which gave quite a char- 
acter to the landscape. It is widely distributed in the 
Southern Hemisphere, extending to Mexico and Ma- 
laya. 
