232 
New Zealand Ferns 
( 90 ) A. obtusatum (blunt). A seaside plant, usually 
growing on rock faces; more plentiful on the outlying 
islands. Sometimes confused with A. liicidiim, but a 
much smaller plant, with short, thick, bluntly-rounded 
leaflets. 
Description . — Root short, thick, often forming a hard rounded 
mass, densely scaly. Stalks 2 to 6 inches long, erect, very stout, 
almost fleshy, greyish-green, scaly at base. Fronds 2 to 12 inches 
long, without the stalk, by 1 to 3 inches broad, very thick and 
tough, deep green. Seeds oblique, usually copious, not reaching 
midrib. 
On maritime rocks throughout the Dominion. 
My first sight of this curious-looking fern came as 
somewhat of a shock; the leaves were so round and 
packed so close together I took it for a large species of 
ice-plant — it was growing in a neighbouring fernery. It 
is easily cultivated. A widely-spread species in the 
Southern Hemisphere. 
