224 
New Zealand Ferns 
green above, dark-brown below. Fronds few, tufted at the top of 
the root, weak and tender, decumbent, green to light-green, 6 to 
14 inches long by ^in. to 1 inch broad. Midrib smooth and green, 
rooting at apex. Seeds in short oblique lines. 
From the Bay of Islands to Otago, not uncommon in rocky 
and stony places. Sea-level to 2,000 feet. 
Besides the unusual property of taking root at the end 
of the long slender stalk and producing a fresh plant, 
the upper leaflets are sometimes extended into naked 
tips which also root and produce fronds. It is easily cul- 
tivated, either in a rockery or in hanging pots. Though 
usually growing in rocky or stony ground, I have found 
it luxuriating under a hawthorn hedge on rich alluvial 
soil at Tua-marina, near Blenheim. 
The following account of this charming little fern is 
taken from a letter: — 
The other day I set out to get a specimen for my fer- 
nery. After a considerable hunt I found some plants 
growing on a rough stone wall, but they were small and 
meagre. I turned to retrace my steps, disappointed at 
my failure, and had reached a swelling mound of lava, 
when a boy hailed me from over the wall. 
“Are you getting ferns, mister?” 
“I’m trying to — there’s hardly one to be seen.” 
“Have you been into the cave?” 
“I see no cave.” 
“Over there,” he said, pointing to the bare mound be- 
hind me. 
I could not perceive the least sign of a cave, and turned 
to see if the boy were in earnest. He got over the wall 
and showed me. Within ten yards of where I was stand- 
ing was a slight depression in the ground, partially hid- 
den by grass and weeds. Dropping to my hands and 
knees, and parting the herbage I looked down into the 
most lovely grotto I ever beheld. Below the narrow 
opening it widened out to a diameter of about six feet. 
Moss-grown rocks projected from the sides and bottom, 
almost hidden under a green tracery of the fan-leaved 
