360 
New Zealand Ferns 
XXVII. LYGODIUM 
LYGODIUM (lygodon, flexible). A genus of 
about 20 species, with i in New Zealand. Climbing 
ferns with stems that twine. A very distinct species, 
usually tropical. 
(149) L. articulatum (jointed). “Mange-mange.” 
The climbing fern proper of New Zealand, ascending 
bushes and trees by means of a long twining stem — not 
by roots. Impossible to confound with any other. 
Description . — Root slender, creeping, clothed with glossy 
brown scales. Stalks very numerous, long, slender, climbing, 
reaching the tops of tall forest trees, branched, wiry, often inter- 
twined and forming impenetrable screens. Leaves 2 to 4 inches 
long by bn. to \m. broad, thin and tough, bright-green, often 
sea-green below. Seeds in branching clusters, usually at some 
height above the ground. 
Abundant in woods from North Cape to the Bay of Plenty 
and Kawhia. Sea-level to 2,500 feet. 
It was a most interesting study to watch the growth 
of this lovely fern. A slender stalk of a pale vernal green 
rose from the ground to the height of a few inches and 
