Flora of New Zealand Series

Polypodium novae-zelandiae Baker in Hook. Ic. Pl. 1886, t. 1674.

Microsorium novae-zelandiae Cop. Gen. Fil. 1947, 196.

Type locality: Mount Pirongia. Type: K, T. F. Cheeseman. Endemic.

Rhizome glaucous, 5-10 mm. diam., appearing thicker by dense investiture of spreading broadly ovate, attenuate, pale brown paleae up to 1 cm. long, tips long persistent; stipites rather distant, articulated to rhizome, leaving distinct scars on falling. Stipes 5-30 cm. long, pale brown, glab., rather slender; clad in broad-ovate attenuate paleae at base. Lamina deeply pinnatifid, acuminate; 10-120 cm. × 5-35 cm.; thin, dark green; veins rather obscure, except main and secondaries; areoles rather large, with included free veinlets. Lobes up to 20 pairs, subopp., up to 20 cm. × 15 mm., oblong-attenuate to lanceolate; margins very slightly sinuate, hardly thickened at sinus. Sori in two rows, on each side of main and secondary veins, mostly on upper and terminal lobes, few to 35 per lobe, rather distant, round, 4-5 mm. diam., appearing as dark spots on the upper surface, or as bullate protuberances.

DIST.: N. Montane forest on logs or epiphytic, rarely terrestrial: Raukumara (A. P. Druce), Hauhangaroa Ranges; Mounts Te Aroha, Pirongia, Ruapehu, Karioi; near Lake Waikaremoana.

Polypodium pustulatum Forst. f. Prodr. 1786, 81. Forster distinguished: "436. P. pustulatum, frondibus pinnatifidis laevibus, pinnis oblongis integris acuminatis. F. 437. P. scandens, frondibus pinnatifidis laevibus: pinnis linearibus obtusis undulatis distantibus, stolonibus radicantibus scandentibus. F. Societatis insulae."

No locality was given for P. pustulatum, but it has been assumed that the specimens were collected in N.Z. Pichi-Sermolli (loc. cit. 212-222) discusses the history of the treatment of the names P. pustulatum and P. scandens. He selects as the type of P. scandens Forst. f. a specimen in BM. This is clearly conspecific with the N.Z. plant hitherto us. called P. pustulatum. He accepts as the type of P. pustulatum Forst. f. another BM specimen. This is a single frond with part of the stipe and 10 pairs of lobes. A later hand has written N.Z. as the country of origin. Pichi-Sermolli states that P. pustulatum "can be distinguished from P. diversifolium by its frond larger, thicker, with blades not at all or very shortly prolonged downwards beyond the lower pair of segments, and by the segments more numerous, larger and more uniformly arranged." He suggests affinity with P. novae-zealandiae Baker, though the Forsters were never in the known range of that sp. in N.Z., but considers it as a species dubia. No mention is made of "pustules". These may be very pronounced in P. scandens, P. novae-zelandiae and P. diversifolium. I cannot find that Pichi-Sermolli's other distinctions between P. diversifolium and P. pustulatum hold. It is likely that the type frond equals that of P. diversifolium form (c) (2) of my description; but the name P. pustulatum has been so confused that it were better abandoned.