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New Zealand Ferns 
XXII. POLYPODIUM 
POLYPODIUM (polys, many; podos, of a foot). 
A genus of over 500 species (the largest in the world), 
with 10 species and 3 varieties in New Zealand. Very 
variable in size, shape, and manner of growth. Seeds 
in roundish patches on the backs of the leaves, with- 
out any protective covering. 
P. BILLARDIERI 
( 122 ) P. punctatum (dotted). A wide-spreading, 
handsome fern, resembling Hypolcpis tenui folia in habit 
and in the shape of the fronds, but the seeds have no 
protective covering, and are not placed so close to the 
margin, while both stalks and leaves are covered with 
sticky hairs. 
Description . — Root long, creeping, clothed with red hairs. 
Stalks 6 to 18 inches long, firm, erect, red-brown, rough and 
densely covered with viscid hairs. Fronds scattered along the 
root, very variable in size, from 6 to 36 inches long by 3 to 18 
inches broad, rather membranous, green to yellow-green and 
brown-green, both surfaces carrying small silky hairs. Midrib 
viscid and rough like the stalk. Seeds rather large, round, in two 
rows on the leaflets, close to the margin, often covering the whole 
under surface. 
