Blechnum. | FILICES. DT 
lanceolate brownish scales. Fronds numerous, tufted, forming a crown 
at the top of the rhizome; sterile 1-24 ft. long, 13-4 in. broad, ‘lanceolate, 
acute or acuminate, usually broadest above the middle, very gradually 
narrowed to the base, dark-green, fleshy or almost coriaceous, pinnatifid 
above, pinnate below. Pinnae numerous, close-set, often overlapping, 
the largest 2-23in. long, 4-4 in. broad, variable in shape, linear-oblong 
to lanceolate, opens or acute, often falcate, attached by a broad base, 
the upper narrower and more acute, lowermost dwarfed to rounded 
auricles ; margins entire, slightly thickened. Veins free, forked. Fertile 
fronds shorter and narrower than the sterile, 1-24in. broad; pinnae 
numerous, close, linear-oblong, rigid, obtuse. Sori very copious, covering 
the whole under-surface.—Lomaria dura Moore in Gard. Chron. (1866) 
290; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 748; Hook and Bak. Syn. Fil. 
(1873) 177; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns (1882) 66; Field N.Z. Ferns (1890) 104, 
t. 10, £. 4, 44; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 978; Ill. N.Z. Fl. 1 (1914) 
t. 240. L. rigida J. Smith Ferns Br it. and For. (1866) 290. 
Sourn Tia Bake Pomnsuie, Apaaeng, Eastern and southern coasts of 
Otago, not uncommon, Petrie! Thomson, T. Kirk! West Coast sounds, J. D. Enys ! 
Jackson’s Bay and Paringa Bay, Westland, Cockayne / Islands in Foveaux Strait, 
Poppelwell. Stewart IshanD AND THE SNARES: 7’. Kirk! Tur SontanpErs: Cockayne! 
CHATHAM IstANDS: Abundant, Chudleigh! Buchanan! Miss Seddon! AuvcKLAND 
AND CAMPBELL ISLANDS, ANTIPODES IsLAND: JZ. Kirk / 
A purely littoral plant, never found far from the influence of sea-spray. Easily 
recognized by the fleshy or coriaceous habit, the usually obtuse and entire sterile 
pinnae, and by the close-set broad and rigid fertile pinnae. 
7. B. Banksil Mett.; Diels in Phlanzenf. Teil i, abt. iv (1902) 249.— 
Rhizome short, stout, woody, erect or inclined, clothed with the old 
stipites at the top, and with matted fibres below. Stipes short, stout, 
dark-coloured, furnished at the base with numerous ovate-lanceolate 
chaffy scales. Fronds numerous; sterile 4-12in. high, rarely more, 
4-1 in. broad, linear-lanceolate, narrowed to both ends, rather coriaceous, 
dark-green, sometimes with a glaucous tinge, pinnatifid ane pinnate 
below. Pinnae JBoss close-set, adnate by a broad base, 4-4 in. long, 
rarely more, about 41n. broad, broadly oblong or almost semi-orbicular, 
obtuse, quite entire lower pinnae much reduced, sometimes forming a 
sinuated wing down to the base of the stipes. Fertile fronds usually 
shorter than the sterile, pinnate throughout; pinnae shorter and narrower, 
more distant, straight or curved. Sori copious, covering the whole under- 
surface. —Lomaria Banksii Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii (1855) 31, t. 76; 
Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 368; Hook. Sp. Fil. 11 (1860) 17; Hook. and Bak. 
Syn. Fil. (1873) 178; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns (1882) 67; Field N.Z. Ferns 
(1890) 105, t. 26, f. 2, 24; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 979. 
i Norte Istanp: Auckland—North Cape, Buchanan; near Ahipara, 7. F. C., 
Carse! Bay of Islands, A. Cunningham ; Little Barrier Island, 7. Kirk / 7. F. C. ; 
Manukau Heads, Sinclair, Colonel Haultain! East Cape, Colenso! Taranaki—White 
Cliffs to Cape Egmont, Buchanan, T. F. C. Wellington—Wellington Heads, Field ; 
Cape Terawiti, Kirk! Soutn Istanp: Marlborough—Queen Charlotte Sound, Banks 
and Solander, Nelson—Cape Farewell, 7. Kirk! West Wanganui, Kingsley. West- 
land—Jackson’s Bay and Paringa, Cockayne. Canterbury—Banks Peninsula, Arm- 
strong. Otago—Not uncommon on both the East and West Coasts, Buchanan, Petrie / 
Thomson, Hamilton! Stewart Istanp: Paterson’s Inlet, 7’. Kirk. 
A well-marked plant, easily recognized by the coriaceous habit and short and 
broad rounded pinnae attached by a broad base. Like B. durum, it is a purely littoral 
plant, never found beyond the influence of the sea-spray. 
