330 
New Zealand Ferns 
XXIII. NOTHOCLAENA 
NOTHOCLAENA (nothos, spurious; chlaena. 
cloak — imperfect seed covering. A genus of between 
30 or 40 species, with 1 in New Zealand. Small, 
upright ferns, the under surface of the fronds more or 
less scaly or woolly; seeds marginal, partially covered 
by a fold of the leaf. 
N. DISTANS 
( 135 ) N. distans (distant). A small tufted fern, 
generally growing on rocky or stony ground exposed to 
the full blaze of the sun; the dark-green fronds rigidly 
upright and narrow. 
Description . — Root short, stout, semi-erect or prostrate, 
clothed at the base with rusty- looking scales. Stalks 1 to 4 inches 
long, stiff, wiry, erect, dark chestnut-brown, more or less scaly. 
Fronds numerous, tufted, 3 to 6 inches long, without the stalks, 
by -|in. to 1 inch broad, erect, rigid, dark-green, firm in texture, 
slightly hairy above, densely so below. Seeds forming a continu- 
ous line round the margins of the leaflets. 
North Island: Rocky places from Whangaroa and the Bay of 
Islands to Cook Strait; local. South Island: Near Nelson, Banks 
Peninsula and other localities in Canterbury. Sea-level to 2,500 
feet. 
