simply pinnate. Secondary pinnæ lanceolate, deeply pinnatifid, sometimes pinnate at the base. Ultimate segments oblong or oblong-deltoid, obtuse, those of the barren fronds often sinuate-dentate or lobed. Veins sometimes all free, but usually more or less anastomosing near the costa of the pinnules. Sori continuous or interrupted, seldom reaching either the base or apex of the segment.—Hook. Sp. Fil. ii. 230; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 364; Hook, and Bak. Syn. Fil. 172; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 732; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 62; Field, N.Z. Ferns, 96, t. 8, f. 4. P. vespertilionis, Lab. Pl. Nov. Holl. ii. 96, t. 245; Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 110; Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 26. P. Brunoniana, Endl. Prodr. Fl. Insl. Norfolk. 12; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 203; Raoul, Choix, 38. P. montana. Col. in Tasmanian Journ. Nat. Sc. (1845) 12. Litobrochia incisa and L. vespertilionis, Presl. Tent. Pteridogr. 149. Histiopteris incisa, Aghard Sp. Pteridog.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands, Auckland and Campbell Islands, Antipodes Island: Abundant throughout, often forming thickets on the skins of woods, &c. Sea-level to 3000 ft.
Universally spread through the tropics and the south temperate zone. In New Zealand it attains exceptional luxuriance by the margins of hot springs in the Rotorua and Taupo districts, in some localities reaching a height of 12 ft.
16. LOMARIA, Willd.
Rhizome creeping or short and suberect, sometimes lengthened into a short caudex, rarely long and climbing. Fronds variable in size, usually simply pinnate or pinnatifid, rarely undivided, very rarely bipinnate, dimorphic; the outer fronds sterile with large and broad flat pinnæ, the inner fertile with smaller linear pinnæ. Veins free, not anastomosing. Sori linear, in a continuous elongated line occupying the whole space between the midrib and the margin. Indusium linear, membranous, composed of the more or less modified edge of the frond, at first revolute over the sorus, ultimately spreading. Sporangia stalked, girt by an incomplete vertical ring, bursting transversely.
A large genus of nearly 50 species, most abundant in the south temperate zone, but with outlying species in most temperate and tropical countries. It only differs from Blechnum in the sori being close to the margin of the frond, and is united with that genus by many pteridologists. Of the 14 species found in New Zealand 4 or perhaps 5 are endemic, 2 are widely distributed in the south temperate zone, the remainder are found either in Australia or the Pacific islands, or in both.
| A. Fronds pinnate or pinnatifid, rarely simple. | |
| * Sterile fronds pinnatifid (or rarely simple), central and lower pinnæ connected by their dilated bases. | |
| Fronds 1–3 ft. long, often pendulous, broad, coriaceous, sometimes simple. Pinnæ few, large, 4–12 in. long, 1–1½ in. broad | 1. L. Patersoni. |
| Fronds 1–4 ft. high, narrow, erect. Pinnæ very numerous, 1–3 in. × ¼–½ in., reddish or dirty-white beneath | 1. L. discolor. |
