Flora of New Zealand Series

Stegania lanceolata R. Br. Prodr. 1810, 152.

Lomaria lanceolata Spreng. Syst. Veg. 4, 1827, 62.

L. aggregata Col. in T.N.Z.I. 20, 1888, 223.

Rhizome stout, erect, sts produced into a short caudex invested by bases of fallen stipites; clad in dark linear-subulate paleae c. 5-10 mm. long; stipites tufted. Stipes 2-5-(15) cm., stiff; ± paleate, becoming glab., dark towards base. Rhachis stout, deeply grooved, with numerous pinnae diminishing downwards to rounded lobes. Sterile lamina lanceolate-acuminate, submembr., bright green, 15-30-(45) × 4-6-(10) cm. Pinnae approximate, larger 2-5 cm. × 5-10 mm., oblong to lanceolate-oblong, acute to obtuse, subfalcate, sinuate-crenulate to crenate-serrate, attached by widened base; veinlets mostly forked. Fertile lamina 15-20 × 2-5 cm. Pinnae narrow linear, up to 4 cm. long, attached by widened base. Sori covering whole of undersurface.

DIST.: N., S., St., Ch. Lowland to montane forest, us. by streamsides, throughout. Also Victoria, S. Australia, Tasmania, Pacific Islands.

Colenso's L. aggregata, from "sides of streams and watercourses in low gullies, forests about Dannevirke, County of Waipawa; 1887: W.C.," is described as: "Rhizome narrow, woody . . . several perfect plants growing in separate tufts or heads from one root-stock . . . fronds 4-6 inches high . . . stipes . . . 1/2-1 inch (sometimes, but rarely, 3 inches) . . . minutely and thickly papillose . . . sterile fronds 3-5 inches long, 6-9 lines wide, pinnato-pinnatifid, the green lamina completely severed to rhachis . . . segments 2-4 lines long . . . fertile frond, 2 inches shorter and narrower . . ." Its status remains uncertain.