Art. LX.—Notes on some New Zealand Ferns.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 22, 1889, Page 493

Art. LX.—Notes on some New Zealand Ferns. By A. Hamilton. [Read before the Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute, 8th June, 1889.] Through the kindness of Messrs. Pinckney and Robinson, of the Napier High School, I have the pleasure of bringing before you this evening some interesting specimens of ferns collected by them at Kuripapanga recently. The one of most interest, and which is probably new to most of us, is the second species of New Zealand Gymnogramme. Gymnogramme pozoi, Kunze, var. rutœfolia, Br. Many years ago Mr. Colenso, in one of his journeys along the coast to Wellington, found this little fern growing on the cliffs near Cook Strait. For a long time this was the only recorded locality in New Zealand, although the plant was known to occur over Australia, Tasmania, and in the Pyrenees. Within the last few years, however, it has been found in the Southern Alps at an elevation of about 3,000ft., and described by Mr. Potts, in vol. x., “Trans. N.Z. Inst.,” as G. alpina, Potts. He remarks, it is probably the most densely villous of all the New Zealand Filices; in its soft woolly texture and silvery-grey colours it bears close resemblance to several plants from alpine flora. Compared with G.pozoi, it lacks the membranous texture of that rare fern, the fronds are crowded, the pinnæ far less distant. The other specimens are forms of Asplenium colensoi and A. hookerianum, but of very lax growth, and certainly worthy of description as varieties.