378 
New Zealand Ferns 
XXX. OPHIOGLOSSUM 
OPHIOGLOSSUM (ophios, of a serpent; giossa, 
a tongue). A genus of 8 to io species, with 2 in New 
Zealand; small succulent plants, the seeds carried on 
a projecting spike. 
(154) O.lusitanicum (Portuguese). “Narrow-leaved 
Adder's Tongue.” A small, insignificant-looking plant; 
easily missed by the casual collector ; usually growing in 
grass. 
Description . — Root cylindrical, semi-erect, slightly tuberous. 
Fronds, one to three from a root, pn. to 5 inches long, including 
the stalk and fertile spike. The barren leaf usually placed below 
the middle, pn. to 2 inches long by pn. to pn. broad, of a full 
green, texture firm and fleshy. 
Kermadec Islands, North and South Islands, not uncommon 
throughout, ascending to 3,500 feet. 
Personally I have failed to find it, though it is 50 
years since I began to collect ferns. A very wide-spread 
plant. 
