6–20 pairs, remote or rather close, stipitate, 2–6 in. long, ¾–2 in. broad, lanceolate to oblong-lanceoiate 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. Fil. Nov. Zei. ii. 33; Handb. N.Z. Fil. 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 Póle 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 Póle 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 4000ft., T. F. C.
