Nephrolepis.] FILICES. 39 
or linear-oblong, obtuse or subacute, cordate at the base, the upper edge 
distinctly auricled, the lower shorter and rounded; margins crenate- 
toothed ; the lower pinnae shorter and broader and sterile. Sori in two 
rows on the pinnae, rather nearer the margin than the midrib. Indusium 
reniform, firm, membranous.—Hook. and Bak. Syn, Fil. (1873) 300; Thoms. 
N.Z. Ferns (1882) 85; Field N.Z. Ferns (1890) 134, t. 20, £. 3; Cheesem. 
Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 1006. N. tuberosa Presl Tent. Pterid. (1886) 79 ; 
Hook. Sp. Fil. iv (1862) 151; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 3879. 
N. flexuosa Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx (1888) 231. Aspidium cordifolium 
Swartz Syn. Fil. (1806) 45; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii (1878) 754. 
Kermapec Istanps: Sunday Island, not uncommon, W. R. B. Oliver! Norvu 
Istanp: Auckland—Thermal-springs district, in localities heated by warm water ; 
Otumakokori Stream (near Waiotapu), Captain G. Mair! T. Kirk! T.F.C.; Wairakei, 
Karapiti, and other localities at Taupo, Hochstetier, O. J. Norton! T. F. O, 
An abundant tropical fern, extending northwards to Japan and southwards to 
New Zealand. . 
2. N. exaltata Schott Gen. Fil. (1834) t. 3—Rhizome short, indistinct, 
emitting numerous long wiry creeping stolons. Stipes 3-9 in. long, stout, 
erect, deciduously scaly. Fronds numerous, 1-3 ft. long, 4-5 in. broad, 
oblong-lanceolate, rather coriaceous, pinnate; rhachis and costae and 
sometimes the under-surface of the pinnae more or less scaly-tomentose 
or woolly. Pinnae numerous, close-set, horizontally spreading, 14-3 in. 
long, 3-3 in. broad, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute, broadly obliquely 
truncate or subcordate at the base, the upper edge slightly auricled, the 
lower rounded ; margins crenate-serrate. Sori close to the margin, numer- 
ous, rather small. Indusium firm, almost coriaceous, distinctly reniform,— 
Hook, Sp. Fil. iv (1862) 152; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fel. (1873) 301 ; 
/ 
Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Enst. xx (1888) 178; Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 1007. 
Aspidium exaltatum Swartz Syn. Fil. (1806) 45; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii 
(1878) 754. 
Kermapec Istanps: Sunday Island, sandy flats in Denham Bay, T. F. OC. ; near 
fumaroles in Denham Bay and in main crater, W. R. B. Oliver / 
An abundant tropical fern all round the world. 
13. LEPTOLEPIA Mettenius. 
Rhizome long and creeping, clothed with narrow-linear scales. Stipes 
not articulated on the rhizome. Fronds large, many times pinnate ; 
ultimate segments narrow-linear. Veins free. Sori terminal at the tip 
of a short lateral veinlet. Indusium attached to the vein, broadly ovate 
or almost orbicular, its free margin toothed or scalloped. Sporangia 
numerous, girt by an incomplete vertical ring. 
A monotypic genus confined to New Zealand. 
1. L. novae-zealandiae ,Auhn Chaetopt. (1882) 348.—Rhizome long, 
branched, wide-creeping, as thick as a quill, clothed with yellowish-brown 
Imear scales. Stipes 6-18in. long, red-brown, firm, erect, rough and 
bristly at the base, smooth and polished above. Fronds 1-2 ft. long, 
6-12in. broad, ovate-oblong to deltoid, acuminate, firm but scarcely 
coriaceous, tripinnate; rhachis flexuose, channelled above, glabrous or 
pubescent at the axils. Primary pinnae oblong-lanceolate, acuminate ; 
