6–20 pairs, remote or rather close, stipitate, 2–6 in. long, ¾–2 in. broad, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-ovate, usually narrowed into a long acuminate point, often caudate, obliquely cuneate at the base, the upper edge rounded, the lower cut away; margins somewhat thickened, sinuate-serrate; veins usually evident, forked. Sori oblique to the midrib, very numerous, close, linear-elongate.—A. Cunn. Precur. n. 189; Raoul, Choix, 37; Hook. Sp. Fil. iii. 98; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 33; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 371. A. obtusatum var. lucidum, Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. 207; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 747; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 74; Field, N.Z. Ferns, 119, t. 13, f. 6.
Var. obliquum, Moore, Ind. Fil. 142.—Fronds smaller and more coriaceous, 12–18 in. long. Pinnæ more closely placed, 1–3 in. long, oblong-lanceolate, acute but not acuminate. Sori shorter. Approaches A. obtusatum.— A. obliquum, Forst. Prodr. n. 429. A. apice-dentatum, Homb. and Jacq. Voy. au Pôle Sud, Crypt. t. 1a, and A. obtusatum, t. 1b, large specimen. A. obtusatum var. obliquum. Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 108; Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 33; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 871; Hook. Sp. Fil. iii. 96; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. 207.
Var. scleroprium, Moore, Ind. Fil. 142.—Fronds fleshy and coriaceous, 12–18 in. high or more. Pinnæ closely placed, 2–4 in. long, about ½ in. broad, linear-lanceolate, caudate-acuminate, closely and deeply serrate or pinnatifid, sometimes more than half-way down to the midrib. Sori linear, extending into the segments or teeth, and marginal to them. A transition form to A. flaccidum.—A. scleroprium, Homb. and Jacq. Voy. au Pôle Sud, Crypt. t. 1d; Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 109; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 371; Hook. Sp. Fil. iii. 97. A. flaccidum var. aucklandicum. Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 109.
Var. Lyallii, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 33, t. 77.—Size and habit of the type; but the inferior pinnæ lanceolate-deltoid, cut down to the rhachis in the lower part into distinctly stipitate piunules; intermediate pinnæ more or less deeply lobed, especially on the upper margin, lobes crenate.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 371; Hook. Sp. Fil. iii. 99. A. Lyallii, Moore, Ind. Fil. 143.
Var. anomodum, Cheesem.—Fronds small, 2–12 in. long including the stipes, pale-green, almost membranous or coriaceous, more or less paleaceous beneath. Pinnæ 3–8 pairs with a large terminal one, ½–2 in. long, oblong-lanceolate to oblong or oblong-ovate or broadly ovate, obtuse or acute, crenate, or the lower ones more or less deeply pinnatifld with the segments crenate. Sori short, linear-oblong.—A. anomodum. Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xv. (1883) 309.
Kermadec Islands, North and South Islands, Chatham Islands, Stewart Island, Auckland and Campbell Islands, Antipodes Island: The typical form widely distributed in lowland districts as far south as Stewart Island. Var. obliquum from the North Cape to Campbell Island. Var. scleroprium: Herekopere Island (near Stewart Island), Kirk! Auckland and Campbell Islands, plentiful, Hombron and Jacquinot, Hooker! Kirk! Var. Lyallii: In various localities from the Bay of Islands (Miss Clarke!) to Otago, but rare and local, and always in small quantity. Chatham Islands, Field, Miss Seddon! Var. anomodium: Usually in limestone districts. Hawke's Bay—Petane, A. Hamilton! Te Aute, C. P. Winkelmann! Norsewood, Colenso! Takapau, J. Stewart. Nelson—Wangapeka Valley and Mount Arthur Plateau, ascending to nearly 4000 ft., T.F.C.
