48 FILICES. [Asplenium. 
stout, terete or compressed, densely scaly at the base. Fronds 1-3 ft. long 
without the stipes, 6-14in. broad, erect or pendulous, lanceolate to ovate- 
lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, dark-green and glossy, herbaceous 
or subcoriaceous, glabrous or slightly paleaceous beneath, pinnate ; rhachis 
terete or compressed. Pinnae 6-20 pairs, remote or rather close, stipitate, 
2-6 in. long, #-2 in. broad, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-ovate, 
usually narrowed into a long acuminate point, often caudate, obliquely 
cuneate at the base, the upper edge rounded, the lower cut away ; margins 
somewhat thickened, sinuate-serrate ; veins usually evident, forked. Sori 
oblique to the midrib, very numerous, close, linear-elongate——A. Cunn. 
Precur. (1836) n. 189; Raoul Choir (1846) 37; Hook. Sp. Fil. iti (1860) 98; 
Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. 11 (1855) 33; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 371; Cheesem. 
Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 990. A. obtusatum var. lucidum Hook. and Bak. Syn. 
Fil. (1873) 207; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii (1878) 747; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns 
(1882) 74; Field N.Z. Ferns (1890) 119, t. 13, f£. 6. 
Var. obliquum Moore Ind. Fil. (1859) 142.—Fronds smaller and more coriaceous, 
12-18in. long. Pinnae more closely placed, 1-3in. long, oblong-lanceolate, acute 
but not acuminate. Sori shorter. Approaches A. obtusatum.—A. obliquum Forst. f. 
Prodr, (1786) n. 429. A. apice-dentatum Homb. et Jacg. Voy. au Pédle Sud (1852) 
Crypt. t. 1a, and A. obtusatum t. 18 (large specimen). A. obtusatum var. obliquum 
Hook f. Fl. Antarct. i (1844) 108; Fl. Nov. Zel. ii (1855) 33; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 
371; Hook. Sp. Fil. iii (1860) 96; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. (1873) 207. 
Var. Lyallii Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii (1855) 33, t. 77.—Size and habit of the type ; but 
the inferior pinnae lanceolate-deltoid, cut down to the rhachis in the lower part into 
distinctly stipita*e pinnules; ‘ntermediate pinnae more or less deeply lobed, especially 
on the upper margin, lobes crenate.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 371; Hook Sp. Fil. iii 
(1860) 99. A. Lyallii Moore Ind. Fil. (1859) 143. © thm. be? 7 / 
KERMADEC IsLANDS, NortH anD SoutH IsLanps, CHatTHam IsLANDS, STEWART 
ISLAND, AUCKLAND AND CAMPBELL ISLANDS, ANTIPODES IsLaND: The typical form 
widely distributed in lowland districts as far south as Stewart Island. Var. obliquum 
from the North Cape to Campbell Island. Var. Lyallii: In various localities from 
Mangonui (H. Carse /) and the Bay of Islands (Miss Clarke /) to Otago, but rare and local, 
and always in small quantity. Chatham Islands, Field, Miss Seddon / 
In the “Synopsis Filicum” A. lucidum, together with A. obliguum, was reduced 
to the position of a variety of A. obtusatum. This view was accepted by many 
pteridologists, mainly, I presume, on account of the undoubted fact that the three 
plants are more or less connected by transitional forms. But A. scleropium also con- 
nects A. lucidum with A. flaccidum, while var. Lyallii offers a passage to A. bulbiferum, 
so that by parity of reasoning these species should also be included. This reduction 
was actually proposed by the late Baron Mueller in his Chatham Island Florula (p. 66), 
but has found no followers. As arbitrary distinctions must in any case be employed, 
and as the differences between the typical A. lucidum and A. obtusatum are quite as 
well marked as those between several species of Asplenium universally admitted, I 
retained both species in the first edition of this work. Since then further consider- 
ation and the examination of extensive suites of specimens have still further strengthened 
this view; and I am now of opinion that A. scleropium should also be restored to 
specific rank, as well as Colenso’s A. anomodum. A. obliquwm has generally been 
placed with A. obtusatum ; but its position is really a matter of taste: and it seems 
to fall more naturally under A. lucidum. 
A. lucidum has been recorded from Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. 
But it is not enumerated in the recent lists of Laing and Oliver, and its occurrence 
may therefore be doubted. 
7. A. scleroprium Homb. et Jacq. Voy. au Péle Sud (1852) Crypt. t. Lp. 
—Rhizome short, thick, densely covered with dark-brown scales. Stipes 
4-8 in. long, broad, flattened or furrowed in front. Fronds 1-14 ft. high, 
5-10in. broad, linear-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, very fleshy and 
