340 
New Zealand Ferns 
This species seems to prefer poor clay soil in open 
land, or among light scrub, never growing in the deep 
shade of the forest. It is sometimes found among light 
scrub in dense interlaced masses of a bright shining 
green, the topmost branches straggling among the ma- 
nuka with sprays of delicate green tracery, presenting 
to the eye one of those unstudied groupings of plants 
arranged by Nature with apparent carelessness, but with 
a consummate skill man may never hope to attain. 
Mr. Thomson and Mr. Field are not agreed about 
the cultivation; my experience has been most encourag- 
ing. It is a wide-spread species south of the Equator. 
(139) G. dicar pa (two-fruited). Like G. c ire in at a, 
but smaller, i to 2 feet high. The margins of the leaf- 
lets curved over, giving the under side the appearance of 
open pouches, each containing two little round seeds. 
Description . — Root slender, wiry, usually clothed with chaffy 
scales. Stalks smooth, slender, a rich red-brown. Fronds several 
times forking into pairs, branches spreading horizontally, often 
interlaced, the upper surface sometimes flat or even concave, 
dull-green above, often white beneath, harsh to the touch. Seeds 
small, round, two in each pocket-like cavity of the under leaf, 
sometimes quite concealed by woolly hairs. 
