Notogrammitis billardierei
Common names
common strap fern
Biostatus
Native
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Ferns
Detailed description
Epiphytic, terrestrial or rupestral fern. Rhizome erect to short-creeping, rarely long-creeping; paleae light brown, lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, acute to broadly acute, 2.2–6.3 × 0.48–1.5 mm. Stipes indistinct, winged almost to base; stipe hairs whitish to pale red-brown, sparse to common, 0.3–1.5 mm. Lamina (26)–56–136–(245) × (3)–3.9–6.9–(11) mm; linear-oblanceolate, rarely elliptic to oblanceolate, acute or rarely obtuse, lamina hairs to 1.0 mm; sparse to absent on margin, midrib and lamina, similar to those on the stipe; texture thinly coriaceous to coriaceous; veins visible or invisible, rarely raised on upper and lower surface in dried material, endings not darkened; midrib raised below, usually darker than lamina. Sori oblong to linear, oblique, in upper and middle part of frond, 2–27 pairs, 1.5–7.5 × 1.0–2.0 mm; soral vein ending within the sorus or extending a little beyond it, shorter than basiscopic vein, neither reaching the margin. Sporangia (150)–177.5–208.9–(260) μm long; indurated cells of annulus (9)–10.4–12.4–(15). Spores (18)–23.3–26.1–(31) μm diameter.
Similar taxa
Easily distinguished by the tufted growth habit, erect or very shortly creeping rhizomes, fronds that are 56–135 mm long, more or less exstipitate, and bearing unicelluar hairs (at least on the stipe), and by the absence of hairs from the soral area.
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand: North Island (from Warawara Forest south, not common north of Auckland on the Northland Peninsula), South Island, Stewart Island/Rakiura, Chatham Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands. Also Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania).
Habitat
Coastal to subalpine, though usually montane in the northern part of its range. A common low epiphyte in mostly closed forest on a range of trees and tree ferns, also commonly seen growing on mossy hummocks, rotting logs, clay banks, cliff faces, boulders and rubble slopes in dense forest.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
Polypodium billardieri (Willd.) C.Chr.; Grammitis australis R.Br.; Grammitis humilis Hombr.; Polypodium australe (R.Br.) Mett.; Grammitis billardierei Willd.; Grammitis meridionalis Parris
Taxonomic notes
The New Zealand species of Grammitis along with Ctenopteris heterophylla and one Australian Grammitis (G. garrettii) one Lord Howe (G. diminuta) and one species endemic to the Moluccas and Indonesian (G. kairatuensis) have traditionally been placed in Grammitis (Parris & Given 1976; Parris 1998). However, these species (with the exception of G. diminuta, G. kairatuensis and G. stenophylla; B.S.Parris pers. comm. to P.J. de Lange January 2011) have now been transferred to a new genus, Notogrammitis Parris (Perrie & Parris 2012). Notogrammitis crassior is the fern that has been known in New Zealand for some time, incorrectly (see Perrie & Parris 2012) as Grammitis poepiggiana.
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Life cycle and dispersal
Minute spores are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild.
Other information
Etymology
notogrammitis: From the Greek noto- ‘southern’ and gramma ‘line’, referring to this new genus of southern strap ferns which were previously in Grammitis.
billardierei: Named after Jacques Houttou de Labillardiere (1755-1834), 19th century French botanist who described several New Zealand plants
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.
NOTBIL
Chromosome number
2n = 74
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Regional conservation statuses
Auckland: 2025 | Regionally Not Threatened
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Auckland conservation status information is sourced from the “Conservation status of vascular plant species in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland” Simpkins E et al. (2025) report.
Otago: 2025 | Regionally Not Threatened
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Otago conservation status information is sourced from the “Conservation Status of Indigenous Vascular Plants in Otago, 2025” Jarvie S et al. (2025) report.
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Parris BS. 1998. Grammitidaceae. Flora of Australia 48, Ferns Gymnosperms and allied groups: 450–468. ABRS/CSIRO Victoria, Australia.
Parris BS, Given DR. 1976. A taxonomic revision of Grammitis Sw. (Grammitidaceae: Filicales) in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 14(1): 85–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825X.1976.10428655.
Perrie LR, Parris BS. 2012. Chloroplast DNA sequences indicate the grammitid ferns (Polypodiaceae) in New Zealand belong to a single clade, Notogrammitis gen. nov. New Zealand Journal of Botany 50(4): 457–472. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825X.2012.735247.
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.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (Updated 25 April 2011). Description from Parris & Given (1976).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Notogrammitis billardierei Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/notogrammitis-billardierei/ (Date website was queried)