266 
New Zealand Ferns 
(104) A. umbrosum (shady). A somewhat scarce 
fern in New Zealand, frequenting alluvial or calcareous 
soils in dark shady woods, or along river banks, disap- 
pearing before settlement. A large, handsome species, 
the little herring-bone rows of seeds very noticeable. 
Description . — Root short, stout. Stalks 1 to 2 feet long, stout, 
erect, scaly at the base, brownish-green. Fronds variable in size, 
1 to 4 feet long, without the stalks, by 9 inches to 3 feet broad, 
spreading, sometimes drooping at the tip, light to dark-green, 
membranous, flaccid. Seeds conspicuous, usually five to six rows 
on each leaflet, short, oblong. 
North Island: Not uncommon from Mangonui County to the 
East Cape and Taranaki ; from thence to Cook Straits somewhat 
rare. South Island: Picton, Nelson, Foxhill, West Wanganui. 
Sea-level to 1,800 feet. 
I was unfortunate in my early search for this fern, 
finding it first at Koromiko, Picton, a locality not men- 
tioned in Mr. Cheeseman’s Manual. 
Mr. Thomson describes it as too delicate. for outdoor 
culture, an opinion not endorsed by Mr. Field. No doubt 
they are each right, for their respective districts — Dun- 
edin and Wanganui. In Auckland it is one of the easiest 
ferns to grow. 
It is a wide-spread species, found in Australia, India, 
Africa, Canary Islands, Azores and Madeira. 
