Flora of New Zealand Series

Polypodium fragile L. Sp. Pl. 2, 1753, 1091.

C. novae-zealandiae J. B. Armst. in T.N.Z.I. 13, 1881, 360.

C. laciniatus Col. in T.N.Z.I. 31, 1899, 265.

Rhizome rather stout to slender, shortly creeping, us. with ascending branches; clad in pale brown to reddish ovate- to lanceolate-attenuate paleae, c. 2-5 mm. long; stipites clustered at tips of branches. Stipes slender to filiform, 2-15-(20) cm. long, stramineous to rather dark brown, shining, nude except at very base. Rhachis very slender, naked, narrowly winged in upper part. Lamina delicate, flaccid, pale green, narrow-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, pinnate to subbipinnate, 3-25 × 1-5 cm., often bearing sori in smallest state. Pinnae distant, alt. to subopp., lower shortly stalked, upper sessile and decurrent, 5 mm.-4 cm. × 4-15 mm. Shape various: ovate, pinnatifid, lobes crenately toothed to entire; ovate- to lanceolate-oblong, pinnatisect, lobes crenately toothed; ovate-oblong, again pinnate in lower, pinnatifid in upper portion, crenate-dentate, with secondary pinnae ovate-oblong up to 1 × 1cm., cuneately narrowed at base, lobes sts incised. Sori medial, 1-4 per lobe, 1-2 mm. diam., sts approximate to confluent. Indusium caducous, ovate, entire to ovate-oblong, shallowly toothed to subentire.

DIST.: N., S. Lowland to subalpine rocky places from lat. 39º southwards, summer-green. Also, in a wide sense, almost cosmopolitan. Although much studied there is little agreement as to varietal distinctions and the geographical range of the different forms.

Hooker included C. tasmanica Hook. Sp. Fil. 1, 1846, 199 as a var.: "frondibus pinnatis, stipite brevi, pinnis late ovatis inciso-lobatis inferioribus pinnatifidis, soris paucis minutis." Forms fairly well answering his description and t. 166 are not uncommon in N.Z.

C. novae-zealandiae J. B. Armstrong in T.N.Z.I. 13, 1881, 360, was very sketchily described: "certainly distinct from C. fragilis Bernhardi . . . the plant is always much smaller and more fragile with an erect underground miniature branching caudex, and is always less divided than the European plant. The indusium is often entirely absent from Canterbury specimens, and nearly always becomes obsolete with age . . . presents scarcely any variations, thus offering another point of difference from the British plant."

C. laciniatus Col. in T.N.Z.I. 31, 1899, 265 (not seen by me) is described as having "Fronds ovate and ovate-deltoid, much acuminate, 6 in.-8 in. long, 4 in.-41/2 in. wide, bipinnate (sub-bipinnate lower pinnae); pinnae distant below closer above . . . pinnules distant, stipitate, pinnatifid, deltoid-acuminate, acute, lowermost with 8-10 segments; segments stipitate, ovate, obtuse, decurrent; secondary segments ovate, deeply cut or lobed; lobes irregular, laciniate, sharply toothed . . . Sori numerous, small, distant, scattered, blackish, central on vein . . . involucre small, oblong, tip obtuse, retuse, sometimes bifid and lacerate . . . sparsely echinate, margin entire . . . North Canterbury, 1898: Mr T. Keir, Rangiora."