Adiantum fulvum
Common name
maidenhair
Family
Pteridaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Ferns
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
ADIFUL
Chromosome number
2n = 116
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley.
2012 | Not Threatened
Previous conservation statuses
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North, South, and Chatham Islands. From Te Paki south to the Taranaki and Hawkes Bay thence rather local reaching a southern limit on Banks Peninsula.
Habitat
Coastal to lower montane in closed forest on clay banks, amongst boulders, along stream sides and in moderately open sites on the forest floor
Features
Tufted, terrestrial fern. Rhizomes short-creeping, c.1.5-2.0 mm diameter. Fronds spreading, dark green, concolorous, to 500 mm long. Stipe to 150 mm long, clad in short setose hairs. Lamina 150-350 × 100-250 mm, ovate to broadly ovate, 2-3-pinnate at base and 1-pinnate above; rachises flexuous, glossy, covered in short setose hairs. Pinnules attached by a short stalk on one corner, oblong to oblong falcate, curved acroscopically at apices, distal margins irregularly lobed, proximal margins smooth, adaxially glabrous, abaxially covered in sparse to dense short, setose hairs. Sori 1-7(-10) along distal margins, one per lobe; soral flaps subreniform to reniform, glabrous, ± immersed in the lobe.
Similar taxa
Easily confused with Adiantum cunninghamii with which it sometimes grows and from which it differs by its dark green rather than glaucescent fronds, and by the hairy stipes, rachises and undersides of the pinnules. Adiantum viridescens is also superficially similar it can be distinguished from A. fulvum by the narrower often sickle-shaped, shiny, dark green, glabrous pinnules.
Flowering
Not applicable - spore producing
Flower colours
No flowers
Fruiting
Not applicable - spore producing
Life cycle
Minute spores are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Slow but once established easy. Flourishes in deep shade, planted in a moist, well drained, fertile soil. Best grown from spores which must be sown fresh. Spores may take several years to produce plants.
Threats
Not Threatened but often rather uncommon over large parts of its range
Etymology
adiantum: From the Greek a- ‘without, lacking’ and diantos ‘moistened’, the fronds of this fern are supposed to remain dry after submersion in water
fulvum: Tawny yellow
Attribution
Fact Sheet including description prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (Updated 4 May 2011).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Adiantum fulvum Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/adiantum-fulvum/ (Date website was queried)