54. FILICES. . [ Blechnum. 
Rhizome short, suberect. Fronds 3-Sin. x 1-l1}in., blackish- 
green, lyrate-pinnatifid. Terminal pinnae much longer than 
the lateral x . es he es .. Ll. B. nigrum. 
Rhizome stout, suberect. Fronds 12-30 in. x 3-14 in., linear, 
membranous; rhachis and stipes bristly and scaly. Pinnae 
2-$ in. X }-4+in., oblong to suborbicular, obtuse 2 .. 12. B. fluviatile. 
Rhizome short, suberect. Fronds 3-10in. x #—liin., submem- 
branous ; stipes and rhachis naked. Pinnae 4-2 in., ovate- 
oblong to oblong, obtuse .. ae ** + .. 15. Bb. membranaceum. 
BL. Fronds bipinnate. 
Rhizome often produced into a caudex resembling the trunk 
of a miniature tree-fern. Fronds 9-18 in. long, ovate, acumi- 
nate s-* ee =. *-* ae Ch ee 14. B. Fraseri. 
: ; earned 
1. B. Patersoni Meitt. Fil. Lips. (1856) 64; var. ote Hook. and 
Bak. Syn. Fil. (1873) 174.—Rhizome short, stout, creeping, clothed with 
blackish-brown scales, sometimes stoloniferous ; rootlets tomentose. Stipes 
3-9 in. long, stout, black, scaly at the base. Sterile fronds very variable ; 
of young plants (and occasionally of old ones) quite simple and entire, 
6-12 in. long, 1-1}in. broad ; of old plants pinnatifid, 1-3 ft. long or more, 
6-12in. broad, broadly ovate to ovate-lanceolate, erect or pendulous, 
coriaceous, glabrous, dark-green above, paler beneath; rhachis winged 
throughout. Pinnae 4-12 on each side, alternate, acuminate, broadly 
decurrent at the base, forming a rounded lobe in the sinus, quite entire ; 
at the base of the frond there are usually several small rudimentary pinnae 
sometimes extending down the stipes almost to its base. Veins numerous, 
close, free, forked. Fertile fronds as long as the sterile, pinnatifid ; pinnae 
narrow-linear, 4-10 in. long, {-}in. broad. ‘Sori continuous, ultimately 
covering the whole under-surface except the costa.—Lomaria Patersoni 
Spreng. Syst. Veg. iv (1827) 62; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns (1882) 64; Field N.Z. 
Ferns (1890) 98, t. 11, £. 3, 34, 3B; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. FI. (1906) 
975. L. elongata Blume Hnum. (1828) 201; Hook. Sp. Fil. iii (1860) 38, 
t. 143; Hook. f. Fl, Nov. Zel. ii (1855) 29; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 367. 
L. heterophylla Col. in Tasm. Jowrn. Nat. Sci. ii (1846) 175 (not of Desv.). 
LL. Colensoi Hook. f. Ic. Plant. (1844) t. 627, 628. 
Nort anp Soutu Istanps, Stewart Istanp: Damp hilly forests from the 
Thames and Te Aroha southwards, not common: local on the east side of the South 
Island. Sea-level to 3000 ft. 
p sf Paw- 
The New Zealand variety is also found in the Pacific islands, Malaya, and India. 
The typical state, which differs in the fronds being usually simple, occurs in Australia, 
Tasmania, and the Philippines. As in most of the species of the genus, the fronds 
are sometimes partly fertile and partly sterile. 
2. B. discolor Keys. Polyp. (1873) 66.—Rhizome short, stout, suberect, 
stoloniterous at the base, often lengthened above into a short erect caudex 
1-2 ft. high, clothed at the top with the bases of the old stipites. Stipes 
3-6 in. long, stout, polished, densely covered at the base with dark-brown 
linear scales. Fronds numerous, tufted at the top of the caudex and 
forming an elegant crown, erect, 1-4 ft. high; sterile linear-lanceolate to 
oblong-lanceolate, gradually tapering at both ends, 2-Gin. broad in the 
middle, coriaceous, glossy-green above, dirty-white to reddish-brown 
beneath, often clothed with rufous scales when young, glabrous when 
old, deeply pinnatifid or pinnate at the very base. Pinnae very numerous, 
closely placed, horizontally spreading, 1-3in. long, 1-1in. broad, linear 
