Ophioglossum.] ' FILICES. 93 
lL. O. coriaceum 4. Cunn. Precur. (1836) n. 161.—Rhizome cylindric, 
suberect, slightly tuberous, roots fleshy. Fronds 1-2 (or rarely 3) from the 
rhizome, 1-3 in. long including the petiole and fertile spike ; sterile lamina 
usually placed below the middle, }-2 in. long, }-}in. broad, lanceolate to 
ovate-lanceolate, acute or obtuse or shortly apiculate, narrowed into a long 
cuneate base, fleshy or almost coriaceous; veins indistinct, reticulated in 
narrow areoles. Fertile spike }-3in. long, on a slender peduncle which 
usually much exceeds the sterile lamina when mature. Sporangia 7-15 in 
each row.—Presl Suppl. (1845) 49; Prantl Beit. Syst. Ophiog. (1884) 314, 
t. 7,1. 9,10, 11. O. gramineum R. Br. Prodr. (1810) 163 (but not of Willd.). 
QO. lusitanicum Hook. and Bak, Syn. Fil. (1874) 445; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns 
(1882) 98; Field N.Z. Ferns (1890) 155, t. 21, f. 7 (but not of Linn.). 
O. vulgatum vars. gramineum, lusitanicum, and minimum Hook. f. Fl. Nov. 
Zel.i (1855) 11, 50; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 386. O. minimum Col. ex Hook. 
and Bak. (1874) 445. O. minimum Armstr. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii 
(1881) 342. : 
Kermapec Istanps, NortH anp Sours IsLanps: Not uncommon in grassy places _ 
throughout, ascending to 3500 ft. 
This, so far as New Zealand is concerned, consists of the varieties gramineum, 
lusitanicum, and minimum of the Flora and the Handbook. The two first are now 
considered to form a distinct species under Cunningham’s name of O. coriaceum, of which 
Armstrong’s O. minimum is probably a depauperated state. O. coriaceum is also known 
from Australia, Tasmania, Easter Island (Skottsberg), and Bolivia. 
2. O. pedunculosum Desv. in Berl. Mag. v (1811) 306.—Rhizome short, 
cylindrical ; roots long, fleshy. Fronds 1-2 from the rhizome, rarely more. 
Petiole above the ground ; peduncle arising from the petiole ; total length 
of frond, including the petiole and fertile spike, 4-12in. Sterile lamina 
placed near the middle or slightly below it, ?-3 in. long, 4-1 in. broad, ovate 
or ovate-lanceolate or ovate-rhomboid, obtuse or subacute, truncate or 
broadly cuneate at the base, never cordate, rather fleshy, venation reticu- 
lated. Fertile spike 3-14 in. long on a slender peduncle inserted just below 
the sterile lamina and much overtopping it. Sporangia very variable 
in number, 15-40 in each row.—Presl Suppl. (1845) 54. O. elongatum 
f. Cunn, in A. Cunn. Precur. (1836) n. 161. O. vulgatum Hook. f. Fl. Nov. 
Zel. 11 (1855) 50 (not of Linn.) ; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 386; Hook. and 
Bak. Syn. Fil. (1874) 445; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns (1882) 98; Field N.Z. Ferns 
(1890) 155, t. 21, f.6. R. costatum R. Br. Prodr. (1810) 163. 
Nort anpD Sours Istanps, CHaTHamM IsLanps: From the North Cape to Foveaux 
Strait, plentiful in moist grassy places, by the margins of swamps, &c. Sea-level to 
2000 ft. 
In the first edition of this work I followed Hooker and Baker in treating this plant 
as a form of the well-known O. vulgatum ; but now most pteridologists split up that 
species into a considerable number of others with more restricted ranges. Most of 
the New Zealand forms agree with Cunningham’s O. elongatum, which is now kept up 
as a distinct species by Christensen under the much older name of O. pedunculosum 
Desv., and which ranges from New Zealand and Australia northwards to Malaya, Ceylon, 
India, Philippines, and Japan. 
40. BOTRYCHIUM Swartz. 
Rhizome short, suberect, emitting numerous long fleshy branching roots. 
Fronds solitary or rarely two at the top of the rhizome, not circinate, 
stipitate, thick and fleshy, composed of two divisions: the posterior sterile, 
