ovate to ovate-lanceolate, erect or pendulous, coriaceous, glabrous, dark-green above, paler beneath; rhachis winged throughout. Pinnæ 4–12 on each side, alternate, acuminate, broadly decurrent at the base, forming a rounded lobe in the sinus, quite entire; at the base of the frond there are usually several small rudimentary pinnæ sometimes extending down the stipes almost to its base. Veins numerous, close, free, forked. Fertile fronds as long as the sterile, pinnatifid; pinnæ narrow-linear, 4–10 in. long, ⅛–¼ in. broad. Sori continuous, ultimately covering the whole under-surface except the costa.—Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 64; Field, N.Z. Ferns, 98, t. 11, f. 3, 3a, 3b. L. elongata, Blume, En. Fil. Jav. ii. 201; Hook. Sp. Fil. iv. 3, t. 143; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 29; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 367. L. heterophylla. Col. in Tasmanian Journ. Nat. Sci. (1845) 15 (not of Desv.). L. Colensoi, Hook. f. Ic. Plant. t. 621, 628. Blechnum Patersoni, Metten.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Damp hilly forests from the Thames and Te Aroha southwards, not common; local on the east side of the South Island. Sea-level to 3000 ft.
The New Zealand variety is also found in the Pacific islands, Malaya, and India. The typical state, which differs in the fronds being usually simple, occurs in Australia, Tasmania, and the Philippines. As in most of the species of the genus, the fronds are sometimes partly fertile and partly sterile.
2. L. discolor, Willd. Sp. Plant. v. 293.—Rhizome short, stout, suberect, stoloniferous at the base, often lengthened above into a short erect caudex 1–2 ft. high, clothed at the top with the bases of the old stipites. Stipes 3–6 in. long, stout, polished, densely covered at the base with dark-brown linear scales. Fronds numerous, tufted at the top of the caudex and forming an elegant crown, erect, 1–4 ft. high; sterile linear-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, gradually tapering at both ends, 2–6 in. broad in the middle, coriaceous, glossy-green above, dirty-white to reddish-brown beneath, often clothed with rufous scales when young, glabrous when old, deeply pinnatifid or pinnate at the very base. Pinnæ very numerous, closely placed, horizontally spreading, 1–3 in. long, ¼–½ in. broad, linear to linear-oblong, subacute, usually connected by their broad dilated bases, margins minutely sinuate. Veins close, free, forked. Fertile fronds about as long as the sterile but narrower; pinnæ ¾–1½ in. long, linear, stout, often flexuous, usually with broad leafy bases. Sori continuous, covering the whole under-surface except the costa. Indusium with the margins much lacerated.—A. Cunn. Precur. n. 181; Raoul, Choix, 37; Hook. Sp. Fil. iii. 5; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 30; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 368; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. 175; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 735; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 65; Field, N.Z. Ferns, 100, t. 4, f. 2, 2a. Stegania discolor, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 87. Onoclea discolor, Swartz, Syn. Fil. iii. Osmunda discolor, Forst. Prodr. n. 413. Blechnum discolor, Metten.
