Paesia. | FILICES. 19 
glabrate; rhachis scabrous, flexuous. Primary pinnae numerous, the 
lowest pair often distant, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 3-9 in. long ; 
secondary lanceolate. Ultimate divisions small, 4-4 in. long, stipitate, 
acute, entire or the barren ones toothed or incised, often lobed or pinnatifid 
at the base; veins obscure. Sori copious, when mature usually covering 
the whole segment except the costa and the extreme tip and base.—Pteris 
scaberula A. Rich Fl. Nouv. Zel. (1832) 82, t. 11; A. Cunn. Precur. (1836) 
n. 204; Raoul Choix (1846) 38; Hook. Sp. Fil. ii (1858) 174, t. 93a; 
Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii (1855) 25; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 364; Hook and 
Bak. Syn. Fil. (1873) 163; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns (1882) 61; Mireld N.Z. 
Ferns (1890) 94, t. 19, f. 5; Cheesem. Ill. N.Z. Fl. ii (1914) t. 239. 
P. microphylla A. Cunn. Precur. (1836) n. 206; Raoul Choix (1846) 48. 
Allosurus scaberulus Presl Tent. Pterid. (1836) 154. 
North anpd SoutH Isuanps, Stewart Istanp, CHatnHam Istanps: Abundan+ 
throughout, usually on bank-sides, or in dry open places in woods. Sea-level to 
2500 ft. 
Easily distinguished from its allies in New Zealand by the finely divided frond 
and minute coriaceous pinnules. In the North Island it quickly takes possession of 
the sides of road-cuttings in forest districts, often to the exclusion of other vegetation. 
31. POLYPODIUM Linn. 
Rhizome short and tufted, or long and creeping. Stipes jointed on to 
the rhizome, not continuous with it. Fronds very variable in size, shape, 
and cutting, simple or pinnatifid or pinnate in the New Zealand species. 
Veins free or copiously anastomosing. Sori globose or oblong, placed on 
the back of the frond, either at the tip of a vein or on the back of 
one. Indusium wanting. Sporangia stalked, surrounded by an incomplete 
vertical ring, bursting transversely. 
In this work I have followed the circumscription of Polypodium adopted by Diels 
in the * Pflanzenfamilien,” and by Christensen in the ‘Index Filicum.” This differs 
from the Polypodium of Hooker and Baker in the excision of all those species that 
have the stipes continuous with the rhizome, or, in other words, belong to the 
Desmobryoid series of ferns. All these are now placed with their nearest allies in 
the genus Dryopieris, 2 name which, under the law of priority, takes the place of the 
better known Nephrodium. Some smaller groups of species have also been removed 
from the genus for reasons that need not be particularized here. Notwithstanding 
these losses, the genus Polypodium still remains the largest among ferns, numbering 
over seven hundred species. Of the six species found in New Zealand, one (P. novae- 
zealandiae) is endemic ; another (P. dictyopteris) is also found in the New Hebrides ; 
a third species (P. Billardiert) has a wide distribution in the South Temperate Zone : 
while the remaining three occur in Australia, Tasmania, and Norfolk Island. 
* Veins all free. 
Rhizome short. Fronds small, 1-Gin., quite entire. Sori | 
oblong or linear-oblong, oblique to the midrib .. -- IL. PB. Billardieri. 
Rhizome short. Fronds 3-9 in., irregularly pinnatifid or 
2-pinnatifid ; pinnae linear. Sori oblong or rounded 
i) 
. P. grammitidis. 
** Veins copiously anastomosing. 
Rhizome short. Fronds 4-12 in., tufted, lanceolate, simple 
and entire .. *; +o Ne , .. 3 P. dictyopieris. 
Rhizome long, slender, clothed with squarrose scales. Fronds : 
6-18in., simple or pinnatifid, membranous; segments 
narrow vis a oe a or 4. P. pustulatum. 
