Flora of New Zealand Series

L. varium var. billardieri (Spring) T. Kirk in T.N.Z.I. 16, 1884, 377.

L. flagellaria A. Rich. Essai Fl. N.Z. 1832, 60, non Bory in Duperrey Voy. Coq. 1829, 248.

L. Phlegmaria A. Cunn. in Compan. bot. Mag. 2, 1837, 361 non L. Sp. Pl. 1753.

Stems tufted, much branched, up to 15 dm. long, pend., slender, densely leafy. Lower lvs spreading to erect, from decurrent base, up to 20 mm. long, linear to linear-ligulate, acute to subacute, coriac., midrib usually evident; upper lvs shorter, erect to appressed. Strobili ∞, slender, forked, distinctly tetragonous, up to 10 cm. long or more. Sporophylls densely imbricate, c. 1-2 mm. long, broadly ovate, subacute to apiculate, keeled, but little longer than sporangia.

DIST.: K., N., S., St. Common in lowland and lower montane forests as epiphyte.