Pieris. | FILICES. 75 
plant, stated by Mr. Buchanan (Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiv (1882) 356) to have been gathered 
at 'larawera, between Napier and Taupo, but of which there are no indigenous specimens 
in any New Zealand herbarium. ] 
1, P. tremula R. Br. Prodr. (1810) 154.—Rhizome short, stout; sub- 
erect, putting up numerous tufted erect fronds. Stipes 1-2 ft. long, stout, 
erect, quite glabrous, smooth and polished, bright chestnut-brown, darker 
at the base. Fronds 1-3 ft. long or more, 6-24 in. broad, ovate or ovate- 
deltoid, acuminate, bright-green, herbaceous, quite glabrous, 2—4-pinnate ; 
rhachis smooth, naked. Primary pinnae 6-12 pairs, subopposite; the 
lowest. 6-15 in. long, ovate-lanceolate or ovate-deltoid, usually bipinnate, 
sometimes tripinnate; upper gradually becoming shorter and narrower 
and less compound ; the uppermost linear, pinnate or pinnatifid. Ultimate 
segments 5-l5in. long, j4-din. broad, linear or linear-oblong, obtuse, 
sessile and decurrent at the base; fertile usually entire or slightly crenate 
at the tips ; barren generally broader and with the margins crenate through- 
out; veins tree, forked. Sori copious, usually continuous on both the upper 
and lower edges of the segments, rarely interrupted.—Hook Sp. Fil. ii 
(1858) 174, t. 120B; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii (1855) 25; Handb. N.Z. FI. 
(1864) 364; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. (1873) 161; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii 
(1878) 7381; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns (1882) 60; Field N.Z. Ferns (1890) 90, 
t. 23, f£. 2; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 971. P. affinis A. Rich. FI. 
Nouv. Zel. (1832) 81; A. Cunn. Precur. (1836) n. 201; Raoul Choix (1846) 
38. P. tenuis A. Cunn. Precur. (1836) n. 205. P. Kingiana Endl. Prodr. 
Fl. Insl. Norfolk (1833) 13. 
KermMapeEc Istanps, Norra ISLAND : Abundant, ascending to 2500ft. SouTH 
IstAND: In various localities in Nelson and Mar!borough, but not common; recorded 
from Banks Peninsula by Armstrong and Potts. 
Also in Australia and Tasmania, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island, and Fiji 
Very variable in the size and shape of the ultimate segments. P. Kingiana (var: 
Kingiana Hook. and. Bak. Syn. Fil. (1873) 161) sometimes has them over 14 in. long and- 
more than tin. broad; while in P. tenuis A. Cunn. they are very narrow, the sori 
occupying the whole under-surface except the costa. 
2. P. eomans Forst. f. Prodr. (1786) n. 419.—Rhizome short, stout, 
suberect. Stipes 1-2 ft. long or more, erect, yellow-brown, polished, naked 
or clothed at the base with dark-brown scales. Fronds 1-4 ft. long, 4-3 ft. 
broad, broadly deltoid, acuminate, membranous, dark-green, quite glabrous, 
2-pinnate or rarely 3-pinnate at the base ; rhachis smooth, polished. Lower 
pinnae in large specimens nearly 2 ft. long by 1 ft. broad and bipinnate, 
but usually from 9-18in. and pinnate, shortly stalked; upper pinnae 
gradually becoming shorter and narrower, oblong-lanceolate or lanceolate, 
regularly pinnatifid ; terminal pinna 6-9 in. long, cut down almost to the 
rhachis. Ultimate segments variable in size and shaffe, 1-3 in. long, }-4 in. 
broad, lanceolate or lineaz-lanceolate to linear-oblong, acute or obtuse, 
straight or falcate, the fertile ones serrate at the tips or sinuate-serrate 
or sinuate-lobed, sinus between the segments acute. Veins anastomosing 
copiously. Sori continuous, but not reaching the apex of the segments.— 
A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. (1832) 79; A. Cunn. Precur. (1836) n. 199; Raoul 
Chor (1846) 38; Hook. Sp. Fil. uu (1858) 219; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii 
(1855) 26; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. (1873) 171; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii 
(1878) 733; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns (1882) 62; Field N.Z. Ferns (1890) 95, 
t. 24, f. 1; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 972. P. Endlicheriana Aghard 
