Botrychium biforme
Common name
fine-leaved parsley fern
Synonyms
Botrychium australe var. millefolium (Milde) Prantl; Botrychium cicutarium var. dissectum Hook.f.; Botrychium ternatum var. dissectum G.M.Thomson; Botrychium dissectum sensu J.B.Armstr.; Sceptridium biforme (Colenso) Lyon;
Family
Ophioglossaceae
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.
BOTBIF
Chromosome number
2n = 90
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. North and South Islands, from Mt Pirongia south often sporadic but can be locally common
Habitat
Lowland to alpine. Preferring open ground, short and tall tussock grassland, forest clearings, shrubland, river flats, frsot flats, reverting pasture and seasonally flooded ground. It is often found in deeply shaded sites within tall forest, or under dense thickets of grey scrub or frost flat vegetation.
Features
Stout, fleshy reddish green (bronze) to green plants. Roots thick, fleshy, not ridged or contracted. Sterile laminae 1(-2) stalked, broadly ovate or 5-angled, divided 5-8 times, 30-250 x 30-150 mm, ultimate segments acute, 0.05-0.1 mm wide. Fertile laminae 1(-2) borne on a narrower but longer stalk, fertile portion shorter and narrower than sterile laminae, divided 3-5-times, bearing numerous, spherical, yellow-brown sporangia up to c.10 mm diam.
Similar taxa
Botrychium australe R.Br. from which B. biforme differs by the absence of ridged, contractile roots, and by the more finely divided sterile fronds whose ultimate segments are 0.1-1 mm wide. B. biforme may be found growing intermixed with B. australe.
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
Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild
Threats
Not Threatened - however often local and sporadic in its occurrences. This species seems mor etolerant of heavily shaded situations and forested habitats than B. australe, and there doe snot appear to be any suggestion of a decline happening within any part of its range.
Etymology
botrychium: Bunch of grapes; from the Greek botrus; grape like spore clusters
biforme: Two forms or shapes of leaves, from the Latin bi and formis
Attribution
Fact Sheet by P.J. de Lange 6 June 2005. Description from Brownsey & Smith-Dodsworth (2000).
References and further reading
Brownsey, P.J.; Smith-Dodsworth, J.C. 2000: New Zealand ferns and allied plants. David Bateman Ltd, Auckland
Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Botrychium biforme Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/botrychium-biforme/ (Date website was queried)