228 
New Zealand Ferns 
(88) A. falcatum (scythe-shaped). Most readily dis- 
tinguished by the uneven shape of the leaflets — rounded 
above, hollowed or straight below. Seeds in long narrow 
lines slightly oblique. 
Description . — Roots short, stout, creeping, more or less 
clothed with brown scales. Stalks 6 to 12 inches long, dark-brown, 
firm, hairy at the base, sometimes throughout. Fronds erect or 
pendulous, 1 to 3 feet long or more by 3 to 7 inches broad, tex- 
ture firm, dark-green or brownish-green above, paler beneath. 
Veins close and distinct. Seeds numerous, diverging obliquely 
from the midrib. 
Abundant throughout the Dominion. Sea-level to 2,000 feet. 
An exceedingly handsome decorative species, varying 
greatly in size and shape, and growing everywhere — the 
trunks of trees, rocks, perpendicular or overhanging 
banks, among the crowded tufts of Astelia in tree-forks 
or upon rocks. One day I encountered a lovely sight ; 
the roots had clasped a slender sapling about five feet 
from the ground, and thrown out a fringe of great 
sweeping fronds that nearly touched the earth — some 
measuring over 4 feet in length. A stray sunbeam, 
filtering through the branches of a giant kauri pine, 
lighted up the dark glossy leaves with splashes of silver. 
Though it has an irresistible attraction for the fern 
gatherer, and often seems to subsist on nothing more 
substantial than air, it is by no means easy to transplant. 
The young crooks appear in the usual way, expanding 
the lower leaflets long before the upper ones come into 
