''Alsophila colensoi'', also known as the creeping tree fern, mountain tree fern and golden tree fern, is a species of tree fern native to New Zealand, from the southern part of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

south to

Stewart Island Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...

. It grows in submontane to montane forest in damp areas, particularly near the tree line. The trunk is usually prostrate, but may sometimes be erect. It may reach about 1 m in height. Fronds are tripinnate and about 1.5 m long or more. The rachis and stipe are slender, pale brown and are covered with brown

scale Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

s. Sori occur in two rows, one along each side of the fertile pinnule midvein, and lack indusia. Plants form a thicket with no sign of a trunk. In cultivation, this species requires rich

humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...

, good shade and much moisture. Being a montane plant, it does well in cooler regions. The specific

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

''colensoi'' commemorates William Colenso (1811-1899), a missionary and New Zealand botanist.

References

colensoi Flora of New Zealand Plants described in 1854 Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker {{alsophila-plant-stub