Flora of New Zealand Series

L. polycephalum Col. in T.N.Z.I. 17, 1885, 401.

Main stems stout, branched, arching between rooting points, up to 5 m. long. Aerial branches erect, 3-12 dm. long, much-branched above. Lvs crowded, squarrose, sts incurved, c. 3 mm. long, narrow linear-subulate, decurrent, pale green, keeled. Strobili us. ∞, solitary, sessile on curved tips of branches, up to 15 mm. long. Sporophylls broad-ovate, acuminate to cuspidate, margins denticulate.

DIST.: K.; N., from near North Cape to lat. 39°; S., on western side from lat. 40° 30'. Lowland and lower montane bogs and moorland, especially abundant on heated ground near thermal springs. Tropics and subtropics.

Nessel (loc. cit. 348, 354) does not cite any N.Z. specimens for typical L. cernuum, but admits 2 vars, both rather widespread.

1. L. cernuum var. curvatum, Sw., Syn. Fil. 1806, 178. Seitenäste kräftig, aufrecht, bis 2 m. hoch werdend; Blätter stark gekräuselt, Spitze nach innen gekrümmt. Blütenzäpfchen 1-2 cm. lang, 3 mm. breit, kurz begrannt.

West Indies, Central America, Hawaii, Java. Also "Ins. bor. New Zealand: Oldham Ritorna [Rotorua?] (F. v. Mueller)".

2. L. cernuum var. vulcanicum Blume, En. Pl. Jav. 2, 1830, 266. Pflanze wenig kleiner und schlanker im Wuchs. Verzweigungen kürzer. Blätter etwas feiner und nicht so lang. East Indies, Fiji, New Guinea. Also "Insel bor. New Zealand, Oldham Ritorna, coll. Berggren, Jan. 1875".