Hymenophyllum villosum
Common name
hairy filmy fern
Synonyms
Mecodium villosum (Colenso) Copel.
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.
HYMVIL
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, Chatham, Campbell and Auckland Islands. From Te Moehau and Mt Pirongia south becoming more common in the southern North island. widespread through the remaining islands.
Habitat
Montane to subalpine in closed forest and subalpine scrub. Usually epiphytic, occasionally on rotting logs, mossy hummocks, rocks and cliff faces.
Features
Terrestrial or epiphytic fern forming dense patches on suitable substrates. Rhizomes long-creeping, slender. Frond dark green, strongly aromatic, scent somewhat sanguinely metallic (especially when dry). Stipes 20-90 mm long, slender; stipes, rachises and laminae copiously covered in hairs, narrowly winged for most of length, black, wing often zig-zagged in upper portion. Laminae 50-180(-240) × 20-100 mm, narrowly ovate, elliptic to narrowly elliptic-deltoid, 3-4-pinnate, glabrescent. Ultimate segments 0.25-0.75 mm wide, oblong, margins entire though usually undulose especially toward distal portion of frond. Sori on short branches in distal portion of frond, many borne on each primary pinna. Indusium narrowly ovoid to ellipsoid, abaxially smooth; indusial flaps entire. Receptacle included. Description adapted from Brownsey & Smith-Dodsworth (2000).
Similar taxa
Closely allied to Hymenophyllum sanguinolentum from which it differs by its smaller over all dimensions, more finely divided fronds with narrower ultimate segments; by the copiously hairy stipes, rachises and laminae; and by the abaxially smooth rather than crested surfaces of the indusia. In some parts of its range is can be found growing syntopically with Hymenophyllum sanguinolentum, whilst in other locations, like the Chatham Islands it grows in apparent isolation from H. sanguinolentum which is not known there.
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 (21 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 villosum Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/hymenophyllum-villosum/ (Date website was queried)