Dicksonia fibrosa
Common name
Wheki-ponga, wheki-kohoonga, golden tree fern, kuripaka
Synonyms
Dicksonia sparmanniana Colenso; Dicksonia antarctica var. fibrosa (Colenso) Kirk; Dicksonia fibrosa var. microcarpa (Colenso) C.Chr.; Balantium fibrosum (Colenso) Fée; Dicksonia antarctica sensu Hook.f.; Dicksonia microcarpa Colenso
Family
Dicksoniaceae
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.
DICFIB
Chromosome number
2n = 130
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
Brief description
Stout tree fern up to 10 m tall. Trunk solitary, dense, made of red-brown interwoven rootlets, Fronds forming dense crown, dying and leaving a tidy, persistent skirt beneath crown.
Distribution
Endemic. North, South, Stewart, and Chatham islands. Uncommon north of the Waikato River and Coromandel Peninsula
Habitat
Coastal to montane, Usually in forested situations, often in riparian sites or at gulley heads.
Features
Stout, non-rhizomatous tree ferns, up to 10 m tall. Trunk up to 1 m diameter, very dense, composed of tightly interwoven, red-brown rootlets, entirely without aerial buds. Fronds numerous, persistent in death, and forming a dense, pendent skirt; in life erect and arching, forming a dense, tight crown 1.2–2.8–3.6 m long, 300–480(–600) mm wide. Stipes 100(–300) mm long, pale brown to red-brown (sometimes golden-brown), smooth, base densely clad with persistent, soft, light red-brown hairs; immature rachises initially clad in soft, pale brown hairs, otherwise glabrate. Lamina (0.9–)2.5–3.3 m long, lanceolate, (2–)3–4-pinnate, abaxially glossy dark green, adaxially paler, harshly coriaceous, primary pinnae 150–280(–300) mm long, lanceolate, long tapering, ± acuminate; secondary pinnae 40–50 mm long, lanceolate, close-set to ± overlapping. Barren pinnules 5 mm long, subfalcate, acute, toothed or entire, widened and confluent at base, shallowly concavo-convex; fertile pinnules rounded, concavo-convex lobes. Sorus ± ovoid to rounded, terminating veins at fertile pinnae margins; sporangia on raised receptacle, partially obscured by in rolled pinnae margin, and submembranous inner indusium. Spores golden brown to red-brown.
Similar taxa
Dicksonia fibrosa is easily recognised by its non-rhizomatous tree fern growth habit; dense, stout trunk (reaching up to 1 m diameter) and comprised of thickly interwoven red-brown rootlets, and never bearing aerial buds; by the smooth stipes; and by the dead fronds forming a dense, pendent, persistent tidy skirt
Flowering
Not applicable - spore producing
Flower colours
No flowers
Fruiting
Not applicable - spore producing
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh spores, and also by transplants of mature trunked specimens. A beautiful but slow-growing species that does best in cooler climates, in a damp, humus-enriched soil.
Etymology
dicksonia: After James Dickson (1738-1822), British botanist and nuseryman
fibrosa: Fibrous, from the Latin fibra; matted fibrous trunk
Where To Buy
Commonly available from most mainline and specialist native plant nurseries.
Taxonomic Notes
Very closely allied to the Australian Dicksonia antarctica R.Br.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (10 October 2010). Description by P.J. de Lange
References and further reading
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Dicksonia fibrosa Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/dicksonia-fibrosa/ (Date website was queried)