Gleichenia dicarpa
Common name
tangle fern, swamp umbrella fern
Synonyms
Gleichenia circinnata Sw.; Gleichenia dicarpa var. hecistophylla (A.Cunn.) G.Schneid.; Gleichenia semi-vestita var. hecistophylla (A.Cunn.) Hook.f.; Gleicheniastrum hecistophyllum var. majus (T.Moore) Nakai; Gleichenia circinnata var. hecistophylla (A.Cunn.) Hook.f.; Gleichenia dicarpa var. major T.Moore; Gleicheniastrum hecistophyllum (A.Cunn.) Nakai; Mertensia dicarpa (R.Br.) Poir.; Platyzoma dicarpum (R.Br.) Desv.; Calymella dicarpa (R.Br.) C.Presl; Calymella major Nakai; Gleichenia hecistophylla A.Cunn.
Family
Gleicheniaceae
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.
GLEDIC
Chromosome number
2n = 40
Current conservation status
The threat classification 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) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website 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. Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – a suggested threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand. North, South, Stewart and Chathams Islands. Also Australia, New Caledonia, Philippines, Borneo and Malaysia.
Habitat
Coastal to subalpine in poorly draining soils, clay pans and pakihi and peat bogs. In lowland peat bogs often forming dense, almost impenetrable masses hence the common name “tangle fern”.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland).
FACW: Facultative Wetland
Usually is a hydrophyte but occasionally found in uplands (non-wetlands).
Features
Rhizome 1.5-3.0 mm diameter, at first bearing brown lanceolate ciliate scales. Fronds of 1-4 tiers of branches, 0.1-2.0 m or more long; lower tiers often branching, usually more than 150 mm wide. Stipes scattered along rhizomes, 0.6-0.95 m long, often bearing brown lanceolate ciliate scales; rachis bearing weak brown to white often matted stellate hairs and ciliate scales.Pinnules glabrous above or with scattered hairs along costa, with sparse or dense whitish to ferruginous scales along costa below; ultimate segments 0.8-1.5 mm long, 0.8-2.0 mm wide, more or less round, obtuse, flat or slightly convex above, pouched below; undersurface white, rarely green. Sori of 2 sporangia only. Description adapted from Chinnock & Bell (1998).
Similar taxa
Often confused with Gleichenia microphylla, which is a taller plant, with ultimate segments flattened, and distinctly triangular, which are abaxially green (never white), and which bear 2-4 sporangia. Gleichenia alpina is very similar to G. dicarpa from which it differs by its consistently smaller fronds (rarely >60 mm wide), and rounded rather than lanceolate scales. Recently it has been shown that G. alpina is present in New Zealand, though its exact distribution is still unclear (Perrie et al. 2007; Perrie et al. 2012). Gleichenia inclusisora differs from G. dicarpa (with which it often grows) by the sori which are embedded up to three-quarters of their depth into the undersides of the fronds, and also by the glossy rather than mostly dull upper frond surface.
Flowering
N.A.
Flower colours
No flowers
Fruiting
N.A.
Life cycle
Minute spores are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al. 2009).
Propagation technique
Fickle. Probably best left alone. Transplants have sometimes been successfully grown in shaded conditions with plants planted in an acid, poorly drained soil. But results vary and plants tend to resent any root disturbance.
Etymology
gleichenia: After the German naturalist and plant physiologist Wilhelm Friedrich (Baron) von Gleichen (1717-1783)
dicarpa: Two seeded; from the greek di and karpos; paired spore clusters
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (15 March 2011). Description adapted from Chinnock & Bell (1998).
References and further reading
Chinnock, R.J.; Bell, G.H. 1998: Gleicheniaceae. Flora of Australia 48: 148-162.
Perrie, L.R.; Shephard, L.D.; Brownsey, P.J. 2012: Gleichenia inclusisora, a new and uncommon tangle fern from New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 50: 401-410.
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): Gleichenia dicarpa Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/gleichenia-dicarpa/ (Date website was queried)