H ab. Abundant in damp forests, etc.— (v. v.)
D is t r ib . South-eastern Australia, New Zeaiaud. *
It IS generally easy to distinguish this from Z. lanceolata by the red colour of the under siuface of the frond,
but this IS not always tho case, either in New Zealand or in Australian and Tasmanian specimens. LabiUardiere
hence made a new species of tlie Tasmaniau, which has hceu retained by Mr. Brown ; but I find the colour to
vary from green to red-browu, and there is no other charaeter whereby to separate them,—.R-okí/í tufted on the
top of a veiy short, woody, erect, thick caudcs, forming an elegant crown, 1-3 feet long, narrow, linear-lanccolate,
perfectly glabrous, rather coriaceous, ]iiunatifid. Pinna very iiiimevous, close, and placed at right angles to the
rachis, with a narrow slit between the contiguous pairs, straiglit, linear-oblong or lanceolate, blunt, sharp, or acuminate,
1 4 -4 inches long, obscurely serrate or quite entire ; lowest smaUer, sometimes distant. Fertile fronds
pinnate or pinnatifid ; pinnæ spreading, stout, Unear, dilated, acbiate, or contracted and almost stipitate at tbe
base ; lower piiiiiæ ofteu quite ban-eu, and like those of the baraen frond. Cosla and racMa quite smooth, the latter
very stout, often black, deeply channelled in front. Stipes short, stout, scalj' at the base.
7. Lomaría alpina (Spr. Syst. Veg. iv. 62) ; glaberrima, fronde sterili stipitata anguste lineari profunde
pinnatifida v. pinnata, pinnis approximatis basi lata sessilibus oblongis obtusis coriaceis inferioribus
minoribus, costa tenui, rachi valida, fronde fertili elongata sterilibus longiore pinnata, pinnis lineari-
oblongis obtusis divarieatis curvis, infimis parvis remotis sterilibus, stipite valido nudo v. sparse squamato,
rhizomate cæspitoso repente squamoso.— Antarct. p . 392. /. 1 5 0 ; Fl. K Zeal. ii. p . 3 0 ; Eook. Fil.
Exot. t. 32. L. polypodioides. Gaud, in Freyc. Voy. Bot. 374. L. Antarctica, Carm. Fl. Ins. Trist.
d’Aeunha in Linn. Trans, xii, 512. L. linearis. Col. in Ta.m. Phil. Journ. ii. p . 176. Stegania alpina,
Br. Prodr. 152. {Gunn, 21, 1523.)
H a b . Abundant in boggy places, and on the tops of all the mo u n tain s.-(v . v.)
D is t r ib . Mountains o f Victoria, New Zeaiaud, South Chili, Fuegia, and the Antarctic Islands.
(Cultivated in England.)
A smaU, coriaceous species, with creeping rhizome and very cæspitose narrow fronds, of which the fertUe are
always much the longest ; weak, elongated specimens have less coriaceous fronds, with obscurely sinuate pinnules.
—Fronds 2 inches to 2 feet high, witb long stipes, linear, 4 - f inch broad, narrowed above and below, deeply pinnatifid
or pinnate. Pinna twenty to fifty pahs, very close together, lincar-oblong, blunt, sessile on very 'broad
bases. Fertile fronds pinnate ; pinnæ spreading, sometimes deflexed, remote, linear, blunt, curving upwards, rarely
straight and short ; lowest remote, smaU, rounded, often without sori. Involucres distinct, scarious. Rachis and
stipes stout, smooth, sometimes with a few paleæ. Rhizome paleaceous.
Gen. X I II. ASPLENIUM, L.
Sori lineares, sparsi, superficie (rarius margine) frondis, venis paralleli. Involucrum e vena lateraliter
ortum ducens, margine superiore libero.
One of the largest and most widely diffused genera of Ferns, of which the species also have an extensive geographical
distribution, and are extremely variable. Tbe genus is distinguished by bearing on the back of the frond
linear sori, covered mtb a linear membranous involucre Involucre attached lengthwise to a veinlet (with which the
sori are paraUel), opening lengthwise and inwards ; sometimes the fronds are cut or divided between every veinlet,
when the sori become marginal, and the involucres appear to open outwards, but if the whole pinna be carefully
regarded, it will be seen that the involucre really opens towards its costa. (Name from a, privative, aud crnArfy, the
spleen ; in aUusion to some supposed medicinal qualities.)
§ a. Fronds simply pinnate ; pinna toothed, scarcely lobed. Involucre with one free margin.
1. Asp lén ium flabellífolíum (Cav. Proel. 1801. p. 25 8 ); parvulum, flaccidum, frondibus decum-
bentibus, lineari-elongatis pinnatis, pinnis rliombeis breviter stipitatis antice crenato-dentatis, rachi lævi
filiformi apice elongato radicante.— Fil. p. 81. t. 3 1 . / . 2 ; Br. Prodr. 150; Fl. N. Zeal. ii. 33.
{Gunn, 22.)
IIab. Abundant iu most parts of the Island, especially in rocky or stony soil.—{v. v.)
D is t r ib . South-eastern and Western Australia, New Zealand. (Cultivated in England.)
Fronds tufted, straggling, prostrate or pendulous, slender, weak, flaccid, 3-8 inches long, pinnate, quite glabrous.
Pinna very variable in size and shape, inch long, shortly stipitate. rhomboid or orbicular, broadly
cuneate or rarely reniform at the base ; outer margin coarsely crenate or lobed. Sori radiating from the base of the
pinna. Rachis filiform, elongated, its apex without pinnæ, often rooting.—Tliis is a very distinct species ft'om any
of the foUowing.
2. Asp lén ium Trichomanes (Linn, Sp. PI. 1540) ; frondibus parvulis pinnatis snbcoriaceis cæspitosis
erecto-patentibus lineari-elongatis, pinnis rotundatis oblongisve obtusis crenatis basi cuneato-truncatis,
rachi stipiteque nigris.— Bot. t. 576. {Gunn, 37, 1532.)
H a b . Clefts of rocks by the Acheron and Franklin Rivers, Gunn.— {v. v.)
D is t r ib . New South Wales, Victoria, South Africa, Pacific Islands, South America, and throughout
the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. (Common in Britain.)
A less straggling plant than A.flabeUifolium, rcadUy distinguished by its black stipes and rachis, and more
coriaceous fronds that do not root at the apex,
3. Asp lén ium obtusatum (Forst. Prodr. n. 430) ; frondibus coriaceis cæspitosis erectis v. pendulis
pinnatis, pinnis breviter stijfitatis oblongis oblongo-lanceolatisve obtusis acutis acuminatisve serratis crenatisve
basi oblique cuneatis rotundatis truncafisve, rachi crassa marginata glaberrima v. sparse subsquamoso-
pilosa, stipite basi squamato, squamis nitidis.
\ a r . a ; fronde erecta, pinnis valde coriaceis obtusis acuminatisve, venis ut plurimum simplicibus.—
A. obtusatum, Forst. Prodr.; Lah. Fl. Nov. Holl. ii, p . 93. t. 242. / 2 ; Br. Prodr. 150; Schkuhr, Fil.
i.p . 6 . t. 6 8 ; Fl. Antarct. p . 1 0 8 ; Fl. N. Zeal. ii. 33; Hook. Fil. Exot. t. 46. {Gunn, 1527.)
\ a r . 0 . ohliquum; pinuis coriaceis elongatis lanceolatis acuminatis, soris linearibus, venis subremotis
simplicibus furcatisve.—/7 . Antarct. p . 108; Fl. N. Zeal. ii. 33. A. obliquum, Forst. Prodr. n. 429;
Schkuhr, Fil. t. 7 1 ; Lah. I.e . t. 2 4 2 ./. 1. A. oblongifolium. Col. in Tasm. Phil. Journ.
H a b . Very abundant, especially on maritime rocks.— {v. v.)
D is t r ib . South-eastern Australia, New Zealand, Lord Auckland’s aud Campbell’s Islands, South
Africa. (Cultivated in England.)
The form I have caUed var. a is an extremely abundant Fern iu the southern hemisphere, especially on maritime
rocks, and represents iu these regions its very near ally, the common A. marinum of England, from which it
differs chiefly in the upper pinnæ being confluent into a broader terminal piuua, and in the generally simple veins,
characters which I fear may prove iiiconstaiit.—F/'owi/a veiy thick and leathery, tufted, 3 inches to 3 feet long, erect
or pendulous, pinnate ; pinna 1-4 inches long, stalked, linear- or oblong-lanceolafe or oblong, blunt or sharp ; base
truncate, cuncatc, or rounded ; margin coarsely crenate or semte. Feins often quite simple. Rachis very stout,
compressed, margined, glabrous or with a feiv scattered soft hairs. Stipes covered at the base with long, broad,
crcct, shining, subulate scales.—Small plants have ouly one or two pairs of piuuæ, which are often short and blunt.
Sometimes the lower pimiæ are lobed or pinnate at the base.
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