Art. XLII.—Cryptogams: A Description of a few Lately-discovered Rare Indigenous Ferns; also, Notice of a Fine and Peculiar Fungus, Ileodictyon, Tulasne, = Clathrus, Cooke.

By William Colenso, F.R.S., F.L.S. (Lond.), &c.

surfaces, some pinnæ are nearly black, glaucescent below, usually bipinnate and tripinnate, generally 3 sometimes 4 rarely 5–6 branches long curved pinnate; pinnules alternate, rather distant, patent on long filiform petioles, mostly small, of various shapes and sizes on the same plant, broadly cuneate, parallelogrammiform, roundish-oblong, suborbicular and subrhomboid, 2–3 lines long rarely 4–5, gradually decreasing in size to tips, the upper pinnules close and very small, the ultimate one rhomboidal obtuse; the lower margin (or sometimes 2 margins) being the continuation of petiole always thickened straight even glossy and coloured; the upper margins cartilaginous laciniate and serrate, teeth large white hard and sharp; veins numerous, close, free, much dichotomously and flabellately branched, several pairs rising and spreading from a single basal vein, and all subradiating from the petiole or lower basal angle. Sori few but of a large size and very prominent far beyond margin of involucre, on the lobules and not in the notches of the pinnules. Involucres brown shining (black in age), rather large, their margins gaping elevated, generally 5–7, sometimes 9, on the larger pinnules, on the upper margin and partly extending round the outer or tip; smaller and very close together on the small, and only 1, 2, or 3 on the smallest pinnules; sinus deep; when young, however, they are very thin white and crisp, or crumpled.

Hab. Open land, damp shaded spots rocky places, between Dannevirke and the East Coast, County of Waipawa; 1892: Mr. H. Hill.

Obs. I. This fern has given me much extra labour, from its possessing some of the common characters of A. cunninghamii, Hook. (A. affine of some modern writers on ferns; but quœ.), and of other allied species (particularly A. heterophyllum, Col., Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xx., p. 218); but (as I fortunately possess a large number of specimens of all sizes, through the liberality of its kind discoverer) I believe it to be very distinct as a species. Those “common characters” pertain more or less to all that sub-family of Adiantum, most of the species also being exotic. Of this fern, its manner of growth, its black filiform stipes (indeed, the almost general blackish colour of the whole plant), its large black and shining scales, its small and variously-shaped pinnules, and, above all, their laciniate and sharply serrate margins, with compound and radiating veins and venules, afford good and constant characters.

II. I have not infrequently met with, and possess, dwarf specimens of A. cunninghamii (some being little pigmies), as well as extra-large ones, but these do not contain the peculiar and distinctive characters of this fern.

Genus 13. Cheilanthes, Swartz.

1. C. venosa, sp. nov.

Plant slightly tufted. Stipe suberect and curved, 3in.–3½in. long, very slender almost filiform, terete, lightly furrowed on upper surface near base, glabrous, light-red and glossy (as, also, rhachis and subrhachises), with a few small weak scales scattered throughout. Frond 2in.–3in. long, sub-deltoid-ovate, 1½in.–in. wide at base, apical lobe very large (for plant), deeply incised obtuse; bipinnate light-green, glabrous, with a few distant scattered fine weak and rather long white hairs on both surfaces; pinnæ 4–5 jugæ; 3 lower pairs opposite, distant ¾in.–1in. on rhachis, sub-deltoid-ovate, 1in.–1½in. long, about 1in. wide at base, petiolate; uppermost pairs subsessile and pinnatifid; pinnules ovate, obtuse, pinnatifid, deeply incised, lobed; lobes oblong; tips of lobes and lobules irregularly bluntly toothed, much veined; veins pinnate, free, regularly branching from midrib, largely dichotomous, each lobe and lobule containing many straight venules and veinlets, extending to margin. Sori loosely scattered, generally on tips of pinnæ and of lobes in irregular little batches, mostly very small, sometimes mere dots. Involucre green from the incurved margin of frond, small and (sometimes) 1–2–3-cleft and toothed, rarely covering sori.

Hab. Dry hills, among low shrubs and undisturbed indigenous herbage, in various localities in the County of Hawke's Bay; rather rare, nowhere common.

Obs. I. This is a very neat little fern; its fresh and charming green colour alike on both sides (which it also retains in drying), and its light-red glossy filiform stipe and rhachises, give it an elegant appearance, which is also increased on examination and observing the curious disposition of its sori and involucres, and its remarkably regular and curved numerous venation.

II. I have known this fern for a considerable time, but only during this year (1892) have I succeeded in obtaining really good specimens. I think its fronds are annual or biennial. Old states, more or less dried up, are difficult to examine closely and satisfactorily, and much resemble those of C. tenuifolia, Swartz, to which species (and also to C. sieberi, Kunze) it is pretty closely allied. But from C. tenuifolia it differs in several particulars (vide descript.), and most especially in its peculiar and striking venation, which does not vary, and forms a good specific character. Sir W. J. Hooker has given a drawing with dissections of C. tenuifolia (likewise of C. sieberi) in his “Species Filicum,” of which he also says, in his description of that fern, “Our figure will give a better idea of the plant than whole pages of description can do”

(l.c., vol. ii., p. 83): there the venation of the pinnules is shown as extremely simple and distant and not extending to margins. And just so it also is shown in the larger drawings with dissections of C. tenuifolia given by Beddome in his “Ferns of Southern India,” plate 188 (also referred to by Baker in his description of that fern in his “Synopsis Filicum”). There the veins in the lobes are simple and common, showing the midrib from the rhachis with 3–4 single veins on each side that do not reach the margin in each lobule; also the involucre continuously extending over 3 lateral and 4 apical veins, with its margin even. Moreover, C. tenuifolia is shown to be a much larger and coarser fern, tripinnate with 5–6 pairs of pinnæ, its lower pinnæ compound (or tripinnate) with longer petioles, their tips, with that also of the frond, being subacute; and in his description of this fern he also says, “Stipe and rhachis purple-black; the main rhachis is winged above, and the secondary and tertiary rhachises are all narrow-winged” (l.c., p. 64); and Sir W. J. Hooker says the same in “Species Filicum,” p. 82—characters that are not found in this fern, C. venosa.

Genus 16. Lomaria, Willdenow.

1. L. pygmœa, sp. nov.

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Plant very small, tufted, 2in.–3in. high; subcaudex an erect thick bunch of old stipites ¾in.–1in. long, with numerous long black scales, acuminate, acute, glossy; roots long, spreading, terete, glabrous. Barren frond spreading linear-lanceolate, 1½in.–2½in. long, 2–3 lines wide at middle, pinnatifid, sub-membranous, pea-green, glabrous, glossy above, rhachis channelled; pinnules 13–15 on each side, alternate, regular, semi-orbicular or hippocrepiform, very small at base, apical lobe subacute with pinnate veins; margins slightly uneven, sub-cartilaginous, whitish; veins few, 3–4 pair in each pinnule, simple and forked, extending to margin, tips clavate; stipe slender, short, sub ½in. long. Fertile frond shorter, suberect, very slender and narrow, linear, 2in. long, 1/10;in. wide, pinnate; pinnæ alternate, orbicular, about ½ line diameter, sessile, about 13 pinnæ on each side of rhachis, the lower and middle ones distant, the lower most minute, apical lobe 4 lines long. Sori numerous, spreading, close, compacted, covering pinna, dark-brown. Involucre narrow, dark - coloured, reverted, margins entire.

Hab. Open lands, damp spots rocky places, between Dannevirke and the East Coast, County of Waipawa; 1892: Mr. H. Hill.

Obs. A peculiar little species: its very small size, venation, and minute orbicular fertile pinnæ distinguish it readily from all others of the genus.

2. L. procera, var. gracilis, Col.

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Plant tufted, erect, very slender; roots numerous, bushy, densely and finely hairy; hairs red. Barren fronds suberect and drooping, 9 in number from 1 rootstock, of various lengths, 4in.–8in. long, 1 ½in.–2in. wide, linear-lanceolate, pinnate; stipe 2in., almost filiform, pale-reddish, dry, sulcate above, very slightly scaly; pinnæ very thin, pale-green, alternate, few, 7 on each side of rhachis in longest specimen and 4 on short ones, sub-linear-elliptic, the longest 1in. long and 4 lines wide, patent and slightly falcate, subacute and obtuse, midrib very narrow, deeply channelled above with raised edges, margins sharply serrulate the teeth curved upwards and long, and close at tips, dimidiate, base truncate, the upper half more so, petiolate, petioles short very slender, ¾in.–1in. distant on rhachis, upper pinnæ subsessile, acute, the lower half decurrent, apical lobe linear-ovate acuminate, 1½in. long, the lowermost pinnæ very small, suborbicular, 3–4 lines diameter; veins simple, rarely forked. Fertile frond erect, pinnate, 10in. long, 2½in. wide; stipe 6in., much stouter than in the barren fronds but not 1 line wide, red, glabrous; pinnæ alternate distant, 6 on each side of rhachis, very narrow-linear, 1in. long, 1/10;in. wide, sessile and decurrent, the lower pinnæ 1½in. distant on rhachis, the upper 3 pairs closer, apical lobe 1½in. long, the lower fruiting pair of pinnæ subsessile, and the lowermost pair of pinnæ barren very small 4 lines long broadly ovate tips rounded. Sori numerous, compact, dark-brown, not extending to tips of pinnæ, which are leafy 1–2 lines long, and so also the lower fruiting pair at their bases. Involucre dark-brown, subinvolute and adhering, very finely fringed throughout.

Hab. Open margin of low wood, edge of great plain south of Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1892; scarce: W.C.

Obs. I again visited that spot with difficulty, on recovering slowly from illness, in the autumn of 1892, and managed to bring away one entire and perfect plant, which looked surpassingly graceful in its sheltered home; and, although primâ facie it seems so very different from all the (known) varieties of L. procera, yet, on careful examination and comparison, I am obliged to consider it to be but another variety of that variable species.^* Its striking points of difference are—its slender, graceful, and neat appearance; its few, thin, small, distant, obtuse pinnæ, with their finely-serrulate margins; its filiform and long stipes; and its densely-hairy and red roots.