naki—Mount Egmont Ranges, J. M. Brame. Wellington—Upper Wanganui, and from thence to the base of the Tararua Range, H. C. Field. South Island: Nelson—Massacre Bay, Lyall; Torrent Bay, Kingsley. Westland—Near Hokitika, W. H. Tipler. Otago—Sounds of the West Coast, Buchanan.
A very beautiful and distinct species, usually found on dripping rocks by waterfalls, or on the mossy banks of streams.
11. ADIANTUM, Linn.
Rhizome creeping or tufted. Stipes usually long, often black and glossy. Fronds pinnate or 2–3-pinnate, never pinnatifid, rarely simple (in a few species not found in New Zealand). Pinnules more or less dimidiate or unilateral. Veins forked or repeatedly dichotomous, frequently radiating from the petiole to the margin. Sori marginal, varying in shape from reniform or globose to oblong or linear, usually numerous and distinct, sometimes confluent and continuous. Indusium the same shape as the sorus, composed of the altered margin of the frond, which is reflexed and bears the sporangia on its under-side, opening inwards. Sporangia stalked, bursting transversely; ring vertical, incomplete.
A well-marked genus of about 80 species, found in all tropical and sub-tropical countries, but most abundant in tropical South America, a few species found in the temperate zones of both hemispheres. All the New Zealand species extend to Australia, and the majority to the Pacific islands as well, while one has a very wide distribution in warm climates generally.
| A. Pinnules flabellate-cuneate, attached by the middle of the base. | |
| Fronds 2–3-pinnate, thin and membranous, glabrous. Pinnules small, orbicular with a cuneate base | 1. A. cethiopicum. |
| B. Pinnules one-sided, obliquely oblong or rhomboid, attached by the lower corner of the frond. | |
| * Sori in the deep notches between the teeth or lobules of the pinnules. | |
| Fronds small, tender, simply pinnate or with 1–2 branches at the base. Pinnules sparsely setulose, rarely glabrous | 2. A. diaphanum. |
| Fronds dichotomous, each division flabellately divided into 3–7 branches. Rhachis densely hispid | 3. A. hispidulum. |
| ** Sori in shallow excavations at the tips of the lobules of the pinnae, not in the notches between the lobules. | |
| Fronds very large and compound, 3–5 ft. high with the stipes. Rhachis pubescent above. Pinnules small, ¼–½ in. Sori transversely oblong | 4. A. formosum. |
| Fronds 1–2 ft. with the stipes. Rhachis smooth, polished. Pinnules ½–1 in., not falcate, glaucous beneath | 5. A. affine. |
| Fronds 1–2 ft. with the stipes. Rhachis and costæ clothed with fulvous hairs. Pinnules ½–¾ in., subfalcate, frequently setulose, not glaucous beneath | 6. A. fulvum. |
1. A, sethiopicum, Linn. Sp. Plant. 1560.—Rhizome creeping, stoloniferous. Stipes 4–10 in. long, very slender, dark chestnut-brown, shining, quite glabrous. Fronds 6–12 in. long, rarely more.
