90 FILICES. | Lygodium. 
The tough and wiry twining stems were formerly twisted into ropes by the Maoris 
and used for securing the thatch on the roofs of their houses; and they were also 
employed for making eel-traps. 
36. TODEA Willd. 
Rhizome thick, stout, erect, often forming a caudex of enormous size. 
Hronds numerous at the top of the rhizome, erect, 2-6 ft. high, thick and 
coriaceous, quite opaque, 2-pinnate. Ultimate divisions firm, entire or 
serrate. Veins simple or forked. Sori on the under-surface of the frond, 
usually of many sporangia, placed on the lateral veinlets proceeding from 
the costa, often confluent. Sporangia almost round, splitting to the base 
into two valves, ring rudimentary. 
A genus of a single species confined to South Africa, Australia, Tasmania, and the 
northern portion of New Zealand. 
1. T. barbara Moore Ind. Fil. (1857) 119.—Rhizome stout, erect, some- 
times forming a trunk as much as 4 ft. high and 2ft. diam. Stipes 1-2 ft. 
long or more, stout, erect, quite smooth. Fronds 2-4 ft. long, 9-12 in. broad, 
oblong-lanceolate, acute, dark-green, coriaceous, opaque, quite glabrous, 
2-pinnate. Primary pinnae numerous, close, erecto-patent, 4-10 in. long 
or more, 3-2 in. broad, lanceolate. Pinnules 1-14 in. long, 4-}1in. broad, 
linear or linear-lanceolate, acute, serrate, the uppermost confluent. Sori 
towards the base of the frond, usually occupying nearly the whole of the 
under-surface of the lower pinnules of the lower pimnae, the remainder of 
the frond sterile-—Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. (1873) 427; Bot. Mag. t. 5954 ; 
Benth. Fl. Austral. vii (1878) 699; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns (1882) 93; Field 
N.Z. Ferns (1890) 148, t. 26, f. 1; Cheesem. Man. N.Z, Fl. (1906) 1024. 
T. africana Willd. on Schrift. Akad. Ef. (1802) 14, t.3,f.1; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. 
Zel. 1 (1855) 48 and 3388; Fl. Tasm. u (1860) 153, t. 178; Handb. N.Z. 
Fl. (1864) 384. Osmunda barbara Thunb. Fl. Cap. (1800) 171. Aerostichum 
barbarum Linn. Sp. Plant. ii (1753) 1072. 
Nortru Istanp: Auckland—Abundant in open gullies from the North Cape to 
Mangonui, and from thence more sparingly southwards to Whangaroa. 
Also in Australia, from Queensland to Tasmania, and in South Africa. In Australia 
the rhizome is often enlarged into a short and massive trunk sometimes weighing as 
much as a ton and a half, but I have seen no New Zealand specimens as large. 
37. LEPTOPTERIS Presl. 
Rhizome stout, erect, sometimes forming a caudex of considerable 
size. Fronds tufted at the top of the rhizome, numerous, erect, 2—5 ft. 
high, always membranous and pellucid, dark-green, 2-3-pinnate ; ultimate 
divisions small, cut into numerous linear lobes. Veins simple or forked, 
not anastomosing. Sori on the under-surface of the frond, usually of 
many sporangia, placed on the lateral veinlets proceeding from the costa. 
Sporangia short-stalked, splitting vertically ; ring rudimentary, transverse. 
A genus of 7 species, all very closely allied, ranging from New Zealand and Aus- 
tralia northwards to Fiji, New Caledonia, and New Guinea. It only differs from 
Todea in the delicately membranous texture of the frond, and in being much more 
finely divided. Both the New Zealand species are endemic. 
Fronds 1-2 ft. long, truncate at the base, the lower pinnae 
not reduced in size .. ‘ iss .. Ll. L. hymenophylloides. 
Fronds 14-4 ft. long, narrowed at the*base, the lower pinnae 
gradually reduced in size ie bs *. .. 2. L. superba. 
