Hymenophyllum frankliniae
Common names
rusty filmy fern
Synonyms
Hymenophyllum ferrugineum Colla of New Zealand authors, Sphaerocionium ferrugineum (Colla) Copel.; Hymenophyllum aeruginosum var. franklinianum (Colenso) Hook.; Hymenophyllum subtilissimum Kunze; Sphaerocionium frankliniae (Colenso) K.Iwats.; Hymenophyllum aeruginosum sensu Hook.f.; Hymenophyllum frankliniae Colenso; Hymenophyllum franklinianum Colenso
Family
Hymenophyllaceae
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.
HYMFRA
Chromosome number
2n = 72
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) – 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.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – an interim threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017 . 2018. 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. Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North Island, South Island, Stewart Island/Rakiura.
Habitat
Coastal to montane. In closed forest where it is usually found epiphytic on the trunks of tree ferns (especially species of Dicksonia) and kamahi (Pterophylla racemosa). Occasionally (especially in very wet forest) it may be found growing on clay banks or amongst mosses on damp boulders.
Detailed description
Epiphytic (rarely terrestrial) fern forming dense patches usually on tree ferns. Rhizomes finely hairy, long creeping, gracile. Stipes 20–90 mm long, thin, brittle, not winged, covered in minute stellate hairs; rachises narrowly winged in upper part. Laminae narrowly elliptic to narrowly ovate, 2–3-pinnate, 50–200 × 20–50 mm, dull olive-green to brown-green, densely invested in yellow-brown to red-brown stellate hairs. Ultimate segments oblong, crowded, margins smooth. Sori terminating ultimate segments, slightly sunk in lamina, many on each primary pinna. Indusial flaps with smooth margins, abaxially stellate-hairy. (Description adapted from Brownsey & Smith-Dodsworth (2000)).
Similar taxa
A very distinctive species readily recognised by its penchant for growing on the trunks of tree ferns, and by the dull olive-green to brown-green fronds that are densely covered in yellow-brown or red-brown stellate hairs. It is unlikely to be confused with any other species in New Zealand with the possible exception of Hymenophyllum malingii. Hymenophyllum malingii is a montane to subalpine species that is usually found on the trunks of kaikawaka (Libocedrus bidwillii) and has fronds that are superficially similar to H. frankliniae because they too are densely invested in stellate hairs. It is however, easily distinguished from H. frankliniae by its habitat preferences and by the narrow, tubular ultimate segments of the pinnae.
Life cycle
Minute spores are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Difficult - should not be removed from the wild
Etymology
hymenophyllum: Membranous leaf, from the Greek humen and phullon
Taxonomic notes
Hymenophllum frankliniae has long been known as H. ferrugineum in New Zealand. However, it is now recognised that H. ferrugineum is endemic to southern South America and the Juan Fernandez Islands.
Attribution
Fact Sheet Prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (18 April 2011). Description adapted from Brownsey & Smith-Dodsworth (2000).
References and further reading
Brownsey PJ, Smith-Dodsworth JC. 2000. New Zealand Ferns and Allied Plants. David Bateman, Auckland, NZ. 168 p.
Thorsen MJ, Dickinson KJM, Seddon PJ. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285–309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2009.06.001.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Hymenophyllum frankliniae Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/hymenophyllum-frankliniae/ (Date website was queried)