Pteris tremula
Common name
shaking brake, tender brake, Australian bracken
Family
Pteridaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
No
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.
PTETRE
Chromosome number
2n = c.240
Current conservation status
The threat classification 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. 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. Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – a suggested threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand: Kermadec Islands (Raoul, Meyers and Macauley Islands), Three Kings, North, South, Chatham Islands. Also Australia, Tasmania, Lord Howe, Norfolk and Fiji.
Habitat
Coastal to montane (in northern part of range) in open, dry forest, scrub, wasteland, along track and roadsides and on retaining walls and similar sites in built up areas.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland).
FACU: Facultative Upland
Occasionally is a hydrophyte but usually occurs in uplands (non-wetlands).
Features
Stout terrestrial ferns. Rhizomes short, erect, apex covered with long narrow, pale brown scales. Fronds dimorphic, tufted. Stipes 0.15-0.6 m long, glabrous (rarely with a few narrow basal scales), red-brown or black, often basally so and then red-yellow for rest of length. Laminae 0.3-1.2 × 0.2-0.7 m, bright green, yellow-green or yellow, ovate, ovate-deltoid, 3-4-pinnate at base, membranous, rachis red-brown or yellow-green. Pinnae overlapping; most secondary pinnae stalked or sessile. Ultimate sterile segments 6-38 × 3 mm wide, linear, apices blunt margins toothed; ultimate fertile segments 5-35 × 1-2 mm, linear, apices blunt, margins toothed. Veins free, simple or 1-2-forked. Sori ± continuous on a marginal vein, but absent from bases and apices of ultimate segments, protected by a membranous inrolled pinna margins
Similar taxa
Distinguished from the other species of Pteris indigenous or naturalised in New Zealand by the lamina which has free veins, 3-4-pinnate laminae at the base and 3-pinnate at the middle. It is perhaps superficially most similar to the uncommon naturalised Pteris dentata Forssk.
Flowering
Not applicable - spore producing
Flower colours
No flowers
Fruiting
Not applicable - spore producing
Propagation technique
Very easily grown, often naturalizing in gardens and becoming weedy (and may even self establish in urban areas from spores blown in from elsewhere). Very fast growing and tolerate of most conditions except waterlogged soils and heavy shade
Etymology
pteris: A fern known to the ancient Greeks; from the Greek pteris
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (17 January 2012). Description adapted from Brownsey & Smith-Dodsworth (2000) and Kramer & McCarthy (1998).
References and further reading
Brownsey, P.J.; Smith-Dodsworth, J.C. 2000: New Zealand Ferns and Allied Plants. Auckland, David Bateman.
Kramer, K.U.; McCarthy, P.M. 1998: Pteridiaceae. Pp. 241-248. Flora of Australia 48. Australian Biological Resources Study, CSIRO Canberra
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Pteris tremula Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/pteris-tremula/ (Date website was queried)