Cyatliea.'] 
I. FI1ACES. 
349 
distant from the margin, globose, enclosed in a spherical involucre, which 
bursts irregularly, leaving a cup all round, or shallow cup on one side. Cap- 
sules crowded on a short club-shaped receptacle, half girt with an incom- 
plete vertical striate ring. 
A large temperate and tropical genus, unknown in the north temperate zone. I have 
availed myself largely of Mr. Ralph’s notes (Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. iii. 163), in the descrip- 
tions of the habit, etc., of the species. 
Fronds white and glaucous below 1. C. dealbata. 
Fronds not white nor glaucous below. 
Frond 10-20 ft., coriaceous, costa glabrous above, tubercled below ; 
fertile pinnae subpinnatifid 2. C. medullaris. 
Frond coriaceous ; rachis glabrous above, woolly below ; fertile 
pinnae entire, serrulate at the tip 3 . C. Milnei. 
Frond 6-9 ft., flaccid, membranous ; costa strigose above ; fertile 
pinnae subpinnatifid 4. C. Cunninghamii. 
Frond 8-9 ft., coriaceous ; costa strigose above at the tips ; pinnae 
falcate, coarsely toothed 5. C. Smithii. 
1. C. dealbata, Swartz ; — FI. N. Z. ii. 7. Trunk slender, branched, 
almost black, sometimes 40 ft. high. Fronds 8-10 or more, broadly oblong- 
lanceolate, 8-12 ft. long, dark-green above, milk-white below, 2-pinnate ; stipes 
and rachis slender, pale, smooth, when young clothed with brown subulate 
scales ; primary divisions 1-1^ ft. long, rachis and midrib covered with pale 
deciduous down ; secondary linear-lanceolate, 2-4 in. long, acuminate or cau- 
date, pinnate below, pinnatifid above ; pinnules close-set, linear-oblong, ob- 
tuse, serrate. Sori numerous, small, pale ; involucre membranous ; recep- 
tacle pubescent. — Hook. Sp. Fil. i. 27 ; A. Rich. Flor. t. 10. 
Abundant throughout the Northern and Middle Islands, Banks and Solander, etc. 
“ Silver Tree-fern ” of the settlers. Also found iu Lord Howe’s Island. 
2. C. medullaris, Swartz ; — FI. N. Z. ii. 7. Trunk very stout, 12-40 
ft. high, 4-8 in circumference, conical and densely covered with matted 
fibres below ; above marked with hexagonal scars of fallen fronds ; at the 
top rough with the projecting bases of the old fronds. Fronds very nume- 
rous, 30-40, 10-20 ft. long, erecto-patent, coriaceous, oblong- lanceolate, 3- 
pinnate, lanceolate-oblong, deep green above, -pale below; stipes and rachis 
stout, covered with scattered tubercles; secondary divisions 4-6 in. long, 
sessile, linear, £- l x in. broad, acuminate, pinnate below, pinnatifid above, 
glabrous or covered with small ciliate or jagged scales ; pinnules linear, fal- 
cate, acute, \ in. long, X V" i broad, lobulate or subpinnatifid (barren and young- 
broader and quite entire), lowest pinnatifid. Sori numerous, one on each 
lobe of the pinnule, which is often recurved over it ; involucre cup-shaped, 
split from the base. — Hook. Sp. Fil. i. 27 ; Polypodium medullare , Forst. 
Abundant throughout the Northern and Middle Islands, Banks and Solander, etc. 
“ Black Fern ” of the settlers. This differs from the Norfolk Island and Pacific island allied 
species in the fertile pinnae being always lobulate, or almost pinnatifid. The thick mucila- 
ginous pith was ouce an article of food with the natives. 
3. C. Milnei, Hook. mss. Very similar to C. medullaris , but the 
rachis is not tubercled, is woolly below, and the fertile pinnae are entire, x in. 
long, i broad, serrulate at the tip only. 
