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Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
26. SchizÆA, Smith
26. SchizÆA, Smith.
Rhizome short, thick, creeping. Stipes rigid, wiry, erect. Fronds simple or forked or dichotomously branched, flat or terete, very narrow, without expanded laminæ. Sori on the under-surface of fertile segments terminating the frond or its branches, each segment consisting of a number of crowded linear pinnæ, those of the opposite sides being usually applied to one another so as to conceal the under - surface. Sporangia ovoid, sessile, splitting vertically, crowned by a complete transverse ring, arranged in 2 or rarely 4 rows on the under-surface of the pinnæ of the fertile segments.
A small genus of about 18 species, dispersed through the tropical or warm temperate regions of both hemispheres. Two of the New Zealand species are widely distributed; the third extends to Australia alone.
Fronds smooth, terete or nearly so, undivided 1. S. fishulosa. Fronds scabrous, terete or obscurely compressed, forked or rarely twice-forked 2. S. bifida. Fronds smooth, compressed, repeatedly dichotomously forked, flabellate 3. S. dichotoma.
| 1. | S. fistulosa, Labill. Pl Nov. Holl. ii. 103, t. 250.—Rhizome short, thick, creeping, clothed with dark chestnut-brown linear scales. Fronds numerous towards the end of the rhizome, not distinct from the stipes, dark-brown below, greenish-brown above, 4–12 in. long, ¼0 in. broad, filiform, erect or flexuous, rigid, wiry, terete, grooved down the face, unbranched. Fertile segment terminating the frond, ½–1 in. long, erect or suberect, consisting of 10–20 closely placed pinnæ on each side; pinnæ all pointing in one direction, ⅛–¼ in. long, linear, incurved at the tip; margins denticulate or fringed. Sporangia in 2 closely placed rows, covering the whole of the under-surface.—Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 749; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. 429; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 693; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 95; Field, N.Z. Ferns, 150, t. 14, f. 5. S. propinqua, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 168.
Var. australis, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 749.—Smaller, 1–3 in. high; rhizome stouter in proportion. Fertile segment ¼–⅓ in. long, of 6–8 pairs of pinnæ.—S. australis, Gaud. Fl. Ins. Mal. 98; Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 111; Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. 428; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 95. S. palmata, Homb. and Jacq. Voy. au Pôle Sud, Crypt, t. 4, f. 2. page 1022North and South Islands, Chatham Islands, Auckland Islands: The typical form not uncommon in barren clay soils throughout the North Island, apparently rare and local to the south of Cook Strait. Var. australis: Cold peaty localities in mountain districts from Moehau (Cape Colville) southwards, descending to sea-level in Stewart Island and the Auckland Islands. Sea-level to 4000 ft. Also in Australia and Tasmania, New Caledonia, Madagascar, Chili, and the Falkland Islands. S. australis is clearly only a depauperated form, connected with the type by transitional stages. |
| 2. | S. bifida Swartz, Syn. Fil. 151.—Rhizome very short, stout, creeping. Fronds close together along the rhizome, not distinct from the stipes, 6–12 in. high or more, about ⅓0 in. diam., rigid, erect, wiry, more or less scabrous, somewhat flattened, with a prominent midrib and narrow thick wing on each side, usually forked at or below the middle, rarely undivided, the branches sometimes forked a second time. Fertile segments terminating the branches, ½–¾ in. long, erect or slightly recurved, rather broader than in S. fistulosa, of 10–20 closely placed Pinnæ on each side. Pinnæ all turned to the one side, ⅙–⅓ in. long, linear, fringed with long cilia. Sporangia in 2 closely placed rows, rather smaller than in S. fistulosa.—A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 95; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 169; Raoul, Choix, 37; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 47, and Handb. N.Z. Fl. 385 (in part); Hook. and Bak. Syn. Fil. 429; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 693; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 96; Field, N.Z. Ferns, 151, t. 12, f. 3.
North Island: On sterile clay or pumiceous soils from the North Cape to Cook Strait, but often local. South Island: Nelson—Takaka and Paramahoi, Kingsley. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Also in Australia and Tasmania. Unbranched specimens are best distinguished from S. fistulosa by the scabrous frond and broader fertile segment. |
| 3. | S. dichotoma, Swartz, Syn. Fil. 151.—Rhizome short, stout, creeping. Fronds few or many, close together, 6–14 in. long, erect, rigid, wiry; lower portion or stipes angular, channelled in front; upper portion repeatedly dichotomous, forming a flabellate or deltoid frond 2–4 in. across or more; branches flattened, ½0–1½ in. broad; midrib stout, evident; margins sometimes minutely toothed towards the tip. Fertile segments terminating the branches, distinctly stalked, erect or inclined, ¼–⅓ in. long, consisting of 4–10 spreading pinnæ on each side; Pinnæ ⅛–¼ in. long, linear, fringed with long hairs. Sporangia in two closely placed rows.—Hook. and Grev. 1c. Fil. t. 17; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 170; Raoul, Choix, 37; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. ii. 47; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 385; Hook and Bak. Syn. Fil. 430; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 694; Thoms. N.Z. Ferns, 96; Field, N.Z. Ferns, 151, t. 24, f. 2.
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North Island: Auckland—In kauri forests from Kaitaia and Mongonui southwards to Tairua and the Lower Waikato, not common; in heated soil near hot springs at Orakeikorako, Upper Waikato, Kirk, C. J. Norton! Sea-level to 1500 ft. A widely spread species, found in the tropical and warm temperate regions of both hemispheres, with the exception of Africa. |