FloraOfNewZealand-Ferns-18-BrownseyPerrie-2018-...
The large and almost cosmopolitan family Aspleniaceae is represented in New Zealand by one genus (Asplenium) with 21 indigenous species, ten of which are endemic, and two naturalised species. Of the indigenous species, Asplenium flabellifolium, A. flaccidum, A. gracillimum and A. hookerianum are all widespread. Asplenium bulbiferum and A. polyodon are widespread in the North Island but largely confined to wetter, western parts of the South Island. Asplenium decurrens and A. obtusatum are both entirely coastal, the former found in the northern North Island and the latter from Cook Strait south. Four species, A. appendiculatum, A. lyallii, A. richardii and A. trichomanes, have a predominantly southern distribution and are largely absent from northern North Island. Two species, A. lamprophyllum and A. oblongifolium, have a mainly northern distribution extending only to northern South Island. The remaining species have very restricted distributions – A. cimmeriorum is confined to western Waikato and from north-west Nelson to Punakaiki, A. lepidotum to the north-western South Island, A. scleroprium to the far south, and A. subglandulosum to drier eastern parts of both islands. Three species are confined to offshore islands – A. chathamense on the Chatham Islands, A. pauperequitum on the Poor Knights and Chatham Islands, and A. shuttleworthianum on the Kermadec Islands.
All members of Aspleniaceae in New Zealand are terrestrial, rupestral or epiphytic ferns characterised by clathrate scales and sori that are elongated along veins and usually protected by elongated indusia. However, identification of individual species is complicated by frequent hybridisation, with up to 37 different hybrid combinations now recognised, and a history of both auto- and allopolyploid evolution. Eleven taxa are tetraploid, two are hexaploid and ten are octoploid; seven of the octoploids are thought to have arisen by alloploidy and one by autoploidy, in each case with at least one of the tetraploid parents still extant in New Zealand. Some have originated more than once from the same parents. In addition, one naturalised, self-propagating hybrid, A. ×lucrosum, has arisen in cultivation from parent species endemic to New Zealand and Norfolk Island.
Thirteen clades are now recognised worldwide in Asplenium, five of them represented in New Zealand. Most of the New Zealand species fall into Clade V, closely related to the Bird’s Nest ferns.
Additional Information
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Data last updated | 14 June 2018 |
| Metadata last updated | 20 July 2017 |
| Created | 20 July 2017 |
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| License | CC-BY 4.0 (Attribution) |
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| Id | 2a4699b8-08e8-474e-a98a-7f7122816954 |
| Mimetype | application/pdf |
| Package id | 95fe11b7-b416-43e3-a651-c818a537a0fe |
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| Size | 24 MiB |
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