AlsopJtila .] 
I. FILICES. 
351 
Northern Island : Ruahiue range, Colenso. Middle Island : probably common 
Southern Alps, Haast ; Otago, alt. 2000 ft., Sinclair, Hector, and Buchanan. 
4. DICKSONIA, L’Heritier. 
Trunk often arboreous.— Fronds large, 2- or 3-pinnate. Sori on the margin, 
globose, enclosed in a 2-valved involucre ; inner valve of involucre coriaceous, 
placed on the end of a vein ; outer formed of the recurved concave tooth of 
the pinnule. Capsules on an elevated receptacle, half girt with an incom- 
plete vertical striate ring. 
■A large genus of Ferns, most abundant in humid south temperate climates. 
Trunk black. Stipes tubercled, black. Sori numerous on each segment 1. D.squarrosa. 
Trunk brown. Stipes smooth, pale, woolly at the base. Sori 4 or 5 on 
each segment 2. B. antarctica. 
Trunk short or 0. Stipes smooth, woolly at the base. Sori 6-10 on 
each segment 3. D. lanata. 
1. D. squarrosa, Swartz ; — FI. N. Z. ii. 9. Trunk 10-20 ft. high, 
slender, quite black, covered with the persistent bases of the fronds. Fronds 
few, 6-10 ft. long, young clothed with soft brown wool, rigidly coriaceous, 
2- or 3-pinnate ; stipes stout, black, tubercled, covered with deciduous hairs 
and chaff ; primary divisions 10-30 in. long, 4-6 broad, with long points ; 
secondary often stipitate, 3-4 in. long, |~£ broad, linear, acuminate, fertile 
narrower ; pinnules oblong, rigid, -j— | in. long, pungent, deeply toothed. 
Sori numerous, large. — Hook. Sp. Fil. i. 68 ; Trichomanes squarrosum, Forst. 
Abundant throughout the Northern and Middle Islauds, Banks and Solander, etc. 
2. D. antarctica, Hr.; — FI. N. Z. ii. 10. Trunk 10-20 ft. high, stout, 
1-2 ft. diam., covered with matted yellow-brown rootlets. Fronds few or 
numerous, 6-10 ft. long, lanceolate, 2-pinnate, coriaceous : stipes smooth, 
glabrous, pale-brown ; rachis and midribs clothed with spreading deciduous 
hairs; primary divisions 10 in. long, 1|- broad, narrowed into long tips; pin- 
nules sessile, f- 1 in. long, linear or narrow-oblong, acute, fertile pinnatifid, 
barren lobulate ; segments oblong, acutely toothed. Sori about 4 on each 
segment. — Labill. FI. Nov. Holl. t. 249 ; Hook, Sp. Fil. i. 66 ; D. Jibrosa, 
Col. in Tasm. Journ. ; Hook. Sp. Fil. i. 68. t. 23 B. 
Northern Island: Wairarapa valley, Te Waiite and Mohaka, Colenso. Middle Is- 
land: Canterbury and Nelson, Tracer's ; Otago, Hector and Buchanan. A most abundant 
Fern in Tasmania and South Australia, attaining there 40 ft. in height, and 4 in diam. 
Trunk used in building houses, Colenso, Buchanan. 
3. D. lanata. Col. in Tasm. Journ.; — FI. N. Z. ii. 10. Trunk usually 
stout or absent, rarely 4 ft. high. Fronds 1-7 ft. long, very coriaceous, broad 
lanceolate or ovate, 2- or 3- pinnate; stipes smooth, towards the base clothed 
with long soft yellowish or purplish silky hairs f in. long, upper part and 
rachis glabrous; primary divisions 5-14 in. long, oblong-lanceolate, acumi- 
nate ; pinnules sessile, li-3^- in. long, linear, acuminate, fertile contracted 
again pinnate, barren lobulate or pinnatifid ; segments short, oblong, obtuse 
or pungent. Sori about 4 on each segment, covering the whole under sur- 
face of the frond. — Hook. Sp. Fil. 69. t. 23 C. 
Northern Island : Bay of Islands, east coast, and interior, abundant in many places, 
Cunningham, etc. Middle Island : Massacre Bay, Travers. 
