338 
New Zealand Ferns 
XXV. GLEICHENIA 
GLEICHENIA (to honour Baron P. von Glei- 
chen, a German botanist). A genus of about 26 species, 
with 5 species and 2 varieties in New Zealand. Medium- 
sized straggling ferns; fronds branching in pairs with 
a terminal bud in the fork, often spreading in horizontal 
tiers. Seeds scattered over the under surface in sym- 
metrical groups, without any covering. 
G. FLABELLATA 
( 138 ) G. circinata (coiled into a ring). “Wae-wae- 
kaka.” Not much like the popular conception of a fern 
— wiry, scrambling, the branches so zigzagged and in- 
terlaced that it is not easy to determine the shape of the 
frond. 
Description . — Very variable in size and mode of growth, 
sometimes stiff, erect, 1 to 3 feet high; sometimes weak and 
scrambling among other vegetation, attaining a height of 4 to 6 
feet. Root long, slender, wiry, often much branched, more or 
less clothed with red-brown scales. Stalks smooth or scaly, of a 
rich red-brown, slender, cylindrical. Fronds usually forking in 
pairs ; branches zigzag, spreading, often interlaced, light-green 
above, pale beneath. The upper surface often convex. Mid- 
ribs generally clothed with rusty-red hairs. Ultimate leaflets 
about the size of a small pin’s head. Seeds like grains of 
brown sand, in symmetrical groups of three, four, or five. 
From the North Cape southwards to Cook Strait, plentiful. 
Rare and local in the South Island. Sea-level to 2,000 feet. 
