Hymenophyllum revolutum
Common name
filmy fern
Synonyms
Hymenophyllum tunbridgense var. cupressiforme sensu Hook.; Hymenophyllum pusillum Colenso; Hymenophyllum tunbridgense sensu A.Rich.; Hymenophyllum zeelandicum Bosch
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.
HYMREV
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). 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, Stewart and Chatham Islands.
Habitat
Coastal to montane. Found throughout New Zealand usually in closed forest where it most commonly epiphytic but also found on rocks, cliff faces, fallen logs, on moss covered hummocks and sometimes on the ground.
Features
Epiphytic and/or terrestrial fern forming in ideal situations an extensive turf-like patches on substrate. Rhizomes long-creeping, very thin, much-branched and interwoven, wiry when fresh, brittle when dry. Fronds light green. Stipes 5-30 mm long, thin, brittle, glabrescent, not winged; rachis narrowly winged in upper portion. Laminae 10-90 × 5-20 mm, narrowly elliptic to ovate, 2-3-pinnate. Ultimate segments linear to oblong, often forked, margins deeply toothed. Sori on short winged branches near rachis, 1 on acroscopic margin of each primary pinnae. Indusial flaps deeply toothed, teeth irregular. Description adapted from Brownsey & Smith-Dodsworth (2000).
Similar taxa
Morphologically similar to Hymenophyllum cupressiforme and H. peltatum, species from which it is distinguished by its partially winged rachis and by the very deeply toothed indusial flaps
Flowering
N.A.
Flower colours
No flowers
Fruiting
N.A.
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
Where to Buy
Not commercially available
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (20 April 2011). Description adapted from Brownsey & Smith-Dodsworth (2000).
References and further reading
Brownsey, P.J.; Smith-Dodsworth, J.C. 2000: New Zealand Ferns and Allied Plants. Auckland, David Bateman
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): Hymenophyllum revolutum Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/hymenophyllum-revolutum/ (Date website was queried)