28 FILICES. | Polystichum. 
on the back or at the tip of a vein, or at the junction of two veins. In- 
dusium orbicular, attached by a central stalk, flat or convex, membranous, 
concealing the sorus when young. Sporangia stalked, bursting transversely, 
girt by an incomplete vertical ring. 
A genus of about 100 species, found in most parts of the world. It is easily 
recognized by the free veins, stiff and coriaceous habit, and usually sharply toothed 
segments. Of the 8 species found in New Zealand, 3 are endemic, 2 do not extend 
further than Victoria or Fiji, 1 is abundant throughout the cooler parts of the Soath 
Temperate Zone; the remaining 2 are widely spread through the warmer parts of the 
Southern Hemisphere. 
A. Rhizome short, stout, erect. Fronds tufted at the top of the rhizome. 
Fronds 1-3 ft.; narrowed below, 2-pinnate; segments sharply 
toothed. Stipes shaggy with larye dark scales mixed with 
hairs .. a a a oS ai .. IL. P. vestitum. 
Fronds 12-18in., 2-pinnate; segments narrower and more 
distant than in the preceding ; texture thinner bc .. 2. P. sylvaticum. 
Fronds 9-18 in., ovate-deltoid, rigid, not narrowed below; seg- 
ments sharply toothed. Stipes with narrow black scales 
Fronds 10-20 in., ovate-oblong, not narrowed below, 2-3-pinnate ; 
segments obtusely toothed.Stipes with large black scales 
margined with white. Indusium with a large black disc .. 4. P. oculatum. 
#ronds 4-12 in., oblong-lanceolate, soft and almost flaccid, 2- 
pinnate. Stipes with large pale membranous scales. Indu- 
sium large, very convex : 
ee 
ae) 
. Richardi. 
5. P. cystostegia. 
B. Rhizome long, creeping. Fronds distant along the rhizome. 
Fronds 1-2 ft., ovate-deltoid, finely 2-4-pinnate. Stipes and 
rhachis densely hispid with rigid linear bristles os .. 6. P. hispidum. 
Hronds 1-3 ft., deltoid, 2-3-pinnate ; ultimate segments obtusely 
lobed or toothed 7. P. adiantsforme. | 
Fronds J-3 ft., deltoid, 2-3-pinnate ; ultimate segments with 
aristate teeth or lobes ba 8. P. aristatum. 
[I have omitted from the enumeration P. mohrioides,Presl, the existence of which 
in the New Zealand area depends entirely on Mr. Kirk’s record in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiv, 
386. There are no specimens in his herbarium, and I fear that some mistake was 
made in the identification. ] ; 
I. P. vestitum Pres] Tent. Pterid. (1836) 83.—Rhizome short, stout, 
erect or ascending, sometimes produced into an erect caudex 1-4 ft. high. 
Stipes 6-18 in. lon’, stout, erect, densely clothed with spreading scales ; 
many of the seales large, over lin. long, ovate-lanceclate or subulate- 
lanceolate, long-acuminate, lacerate, straight or curved, glossy, black or 
dark-brown with a pale margin; others bristle-like or woolly, pale- 
ferruginous or tawny. Fronds numerous, forming a spreading crown at 
the top of the caudex, 1-3 ft. long without the stipes, 4-9 in. broad, oblong- 
lanceolate or linear-ohlong, acute or acuminate, narrowed towards the 
base, rather coriaceous, dark-green, glabrous above when mature, under- 
surface more or less fibrillose, bipinnate; rhachis usually densely scaly 
like the stipes, but sometimes the broader scales are wanting. Primary 
pinnae numerous, close-set, horizontally spreading, 2-5in. long, }-1in. 
broad, linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, acuminate. Pinnules numerous, 
close, shortly stipitate, ovate-rhomboidal, unequal-sided, more or less 
auricled on the upper side near the base, toothed or lobed or pinnatifid, the 
lobes acute or pungent. Sori 6-8 to a pinnule, in 2 rows nearer tlie 
midrib than the margin. Indusium rather small, flat, orbicular—Hook. f. 
Fl. Nov. Zel. ii (1855) 38; Homb. et Jacg. Voy. au Péle Sud (1853) Orypt. 
t. 4, f.s. P. venustum Homb. ef Jacq. Le. t. 5, £. N; Hook. f. Fl. Antaret. 
