272 
New Zealand Ferns 
XIX. ASPIDIUM 
ASPIDIUM (aspidos, of a shield — the covering 
of the seeds). “Shield Fern.” A genus of about 70 spe- 
cies, with 5 well-authenticated species and 1 variety in 
New Zealand. 
A. CAPENSIS 
( 106) A.aculeatum (sharp pointed). Var.vestitum 
(clothed). Most easily recognised by the dark-coloured 
scales on the stalk and running right up the middle of 
the frond. Usually a terrestrial plant, forming a hand- 
some crown of radiating leaves. 
Description . — Root short, stout, erect, sometimes extending 
to a stem, 1 to 4 feet high. Stalks 6 to 18 inches long, stout, 
erect, densely clothed with spreading scales, glossy, black or dark- 
brown with a pale margin, or tawny. Fronds numerous, forming 
a spreading crown, 1 to 3 feet long, without the stalks, by 4 to 9 
inches broad ; the points of the leaflets almost like prickles, tex- 
ture firm, dark-green, sometimes with shades of brown. Seeds, 
6 to 8 to a leaflet, in two rows nearer the midrib than the margin. 
Found throughout the Dominion ; rather local from Cape Col- 
ville to East Cape ; not uncommon in hilly districts from thence 
to Wellington ; abundant to the south of Cook Strait. Sea-level 
to 3,500 feet. 
