378 
Description of some 
Obs. This fern, in its native forests, presents a very 
graceful appearance. It there attains a large size (the 
specimen from which the annexed drawing was taken 
being a very small one, chosen purposely to suit the size 
of the paper); some fronds having been observed between 
2 and 3 feet in length. The fertile fronds, generally 3 
in number in each plant, are invariably very erect and 
ascending, rising directly from the centre; while the 
numerous barren fronds spread out flat in an half- 
procumbent manner, enchanting the eye of the observer 
with a most beautiful, delicate, and ever green circle. 
Genus , HYMENOPHYLLUM. Smith. 
Gen. Char. &oHcircum venam ultra fronts marginem 
in columellam subclavatum productam sessilia, indusia 
frondi continuo bivalvi cincta. Endl. 
5. HYMENornYLLUM Franklini^. Frond, pendulous, 
lax, ovate-lanceolate, somewhat caudate, bipinnate, mar¬ 
gined, silky, membranaceous and downy; 3—5 inches 
long, 1—1£ inches broad; colour, reddish green: pin¬ 
nules, pinnate, alternate, lowermost pair opposite ; petio- 
late, falcate, margined, bifid at apex, and obtuse: divi¬ 
sions, cuneate, forked, linear and obtuse; 2, 3, and 4- 
lobed: fructification, supra-axillary and terminal; orange- 
coloured : involucre, small, shallow, densely bearded and 
ciliated : stipe, I—2 inches long, cylindrical, tomentose, 
filiform, brittle, and brown-coloured : rhachis , downy: 
hairs, articulated, coloured, branched into 3, 4, and 5 
rays; rays acuminate. 
Dab. Climbing trees in woods on the banks of Wai- 
kare Lake, interior of the North Island; four days’ 
journey from Turanga (Poverty Bay). December, 1841. 
Obs. This very elegant and new species of Hymeno- 
phyllum literally clothes the trunks of the trees on which 
it lives in its native forests, with the excessive profusion 
