Notogrammitis rigida
Common name
southern strapfern
Synonyms
Grammitis crassa Fée; Grammitis rigida Hombron; Polypodium australe var. rigida (Hombron) Cockayne; Polypodium billardierei var. rigidum (Hombron) Cockayne
Family
Polypodiaceae
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.
NOTRIG
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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
Previous conservation statuses
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, SO
2004 | Sparse
Distribution
Endemic. South Island (Fiordland coast), Stewart and Auckland Islands.
Habitat
Coastal. Usually terrestrial, this fern is confined to mossy rock faces, shaded cliff faces and recesses just above the high tide mark. It is occasionally found as a low epiphyte in coastal shrubland.
Features
Tufted, terrestrial, rupestral or epiphytic fern. Rhizome sub-erect to short-creeping; paleae red-brown, lanceolate, acute, 8.0-13.0 × 1.0-1.2 mm. Stipe indistinct, winged almost to base; stipe hairs absent. Lamina (90-)100.2-170.6(-220.0) × (10-)10.2-11(-18) mm;linear-oblanceolate to oblanceolate, acute, lamina hairs absent or scattered, mainly on midrib, brown, multicellular, to 1 mm long; texture thickly coriaceous; veins invisible or rarely slightly raised on lower surface in dried material; endings not darkened; midrib slightly raised on lower surface, concolorous with or darker than lamina. Sori oblong to linear, oblique, in middle and upper part of frond, c.20-30 pairs, 2-10 × 1.5-3.0 mm; soral vein extending beyond the sorus, equal in length to the basiscopic vein, both sometimes branching and anastomosing, both nearly reaching the margin. Sporangia (250-)293.9-349.1(-400) micronslong; indurated cells of annulus (10-)10.8-12.8(-16). Spores (33-)37.4-46.0(-57) microns diameter.
Similar taxa
A distinctive species unlikely to be confused with any other strap-fern. The bright green, leathery fronds, 10 or more mm wide, with their irregular marginal lobes and projections immediately distinguish this from all other indigenous strap-ferns.
Flowering
Not applicable - spore producing
Flower colours
No flowers
Fruiting
Not applicable - spore producing
Life cycle
Minute spores are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild.
Threats
Generally regarded as a naturally uncommon species. This species is characteristic of the high rainfall portions of the coastline of Fiordland, Stewart and the Auckland Islands. Within these habitats it can at times be locally common though often sparsely distributed in its occurrences. There is, as yet, no evidence of any decline happening within this species range.
Etymology
notogrammitis: From the Greek noto- ‘southern’ and gramma ‘line’, referring to this new genus of southern strap ferns which were previously in Grammitis.
rigida: Rigid
Where to Buy
Not commercially available
Taxanomic 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).
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (25 April 2011). Description from Parris & Given (1976)
References and further reading
Parris, B.S. 1998: Grammitidaceae. Flora of Australia 48: 450-468.
Parris, B.S.; Given, D.R. 1976: A taxonomic revision of Grammitis Sw. (Grammitidaceae: Filicales) in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 14: 85-111.
Perrie, L.R.; Parris, B.S. 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: 457-472.
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): Notogrammitis rigida Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/notogrammitis-rigida/ (Date website was queried)