300 
New Zealand Ferns 
( 119 ) N. molle (soft). Like N. unitum , this species 
was supposed to be confined to the thermal springs dis- 
trict until Mr. R. H. Matthews found a small patch 
growing beside the Mangatete Stream, near Rangaunu 
Harbour. The frond is not unlike that of P oly podium 
pennigerum, but the plant is very much smaller, softer 
and more tender, of a paler green, the midribs of a 
lighter colour than the leaves, not darker, as with P. 
pennigerum. 
Description . — Root very short, creeping, erect. Stalks 9 to 
24 inches long, slender, greenish, smooth or bearing a few soft 
hairs. Fronds tufted, 1 to 3 feet long by 6 to 12 inches broad, 
pale-green, membranous and flaccid. Midribs pale, furnished with 
downy hairs. Seeds copious, about half-way between the midrib 
and the margin. 
Kermadec Islands. North Cape district ; thermal springs, by 
banks of the Otumakokori, near Waiotapu ; Wairakei. 
A wide-spread species, abundant in tropical and semi- 
tropical countries. I have seen it growing vigorously 
under cultivation in an Auckland fernery. 
