252 
New Zealand Ferns 
The stalks and all the branches are grooved on the 
upper surface with a double furrow, which imparts an 
extraordinary richness to the appearance of the fronds. 
The little bulbs that appear on the face of the leaf are 
not true seedlings. Though they give the appearance of 
fertility to the leaf they are scattered too irregularly to 
add much to its beauty. I have gathered a large species 
of Asplenium in Samoa that had a row of these seedlings 
down each side of the midrib, one at the base of every 
leaflet; they looked extremely ornamental, like a double 
row of green rosettes. If these bulbs are carefully re- 
moved with a piece of the leaf to which they are attached, 
and planted on damp mould, they will strike root and 
produce mature plants. Probably the New Zealand badge 
of the fern-leaf was taken from this species. 
A wide-spread, easily-cultivated plant. 
