''Dicksonia lanata'' is a

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Colloquial names include stumpy tree fern, tūākura and tūōkura. ''Dicksonia lanata'' can be easily distinguished from the other ''

Dicksonia ''Dicksonia'' is a genus of tree ferns in the order Cyatheales. It is regarded as related to ''Cyathea'', but is considered to retain more primitive traits, dating back at least to the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record includes ...

'' species

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

to New Zealand by its long, green or light brown stipes (the

frond A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...

stalks). ''Dicksonia squarrosa'' has dark brown stipes; ''D. fibrosa'' has very short stipes. There are two subspecies.

Subspecies

''Dicksonia lanata'' subsp. ''lanata'' is unusual among

tree ferns The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tre ...

in lacking a trunk. It occurs in higher areas of the North Island from

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula ( mi, Te Tara-O-Te-Ika-A-Māui) on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the ...

southwards, although it is uncommon in the southern North Island. It also occurs in the northern and western South Island. In addition to the absence of a trunk, subsp. ''lanata'' can be recognised by the prominent tufts of woolly hairs at the vein junctions on the underside of its fronds. ''Dicksonia lanata'' subsp. ''hispida'' ( Colenso) Perrie & Brownsey occurs in the northern North Island, from the

Kaipara Harbour Kaipara Harbour is a large enclosed harbour estuary complex on the north western side of the North Island of New Zealand. The northern part of the harbour is administered by the Kaipara District and the southern part is administered by the Auckla ...

northwards, as well as

Great Barrier Island Great Barrier Island ( mi, Aotea) lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, north-east of central Auckland. With an area of it is the sixth-largest island of New Zealand and fourth-largest in the main chain. Its highest point, Mount Hobson ...

. It has a trunk up to 2 m tall, and its frond undersides lack the prominent tufts of woolly hairs found in subsp. ''lanata''. Subspecies ''hispida'' is often associated with

kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...

forests. These northern plants were initially described by

William Colenso William Colenso (17 November 1811 – 10 February 1899) FRS was a Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand, and also a printer, botanist, explorer and politician. He attended the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and later wrote an accou ...

in 1844 as a

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, but this was raised to subspecies rank in 2014.

Habit

''Dicksonia lanata'' subsp. ''lanata'' is stoloniferous, and subsp. ''hispida'' probably is as well. Both can occur in large, tangled colonies, particularly subsp. ''lanata'', which can dominate the ground cover over large areas, especially in the axial mountain ranges of the central-eastern North Island (

Urewera Te Urewera is an area of mostly forested, sparsely populated rugged hill country in the North Island of New Zealand, a large part of which is within a protected area designated in 2014, that was formerly Te Urewera National Park. Te Urewera is ...

, Kaimanawa, Kaweka, Ruahine).

References

Dicksoniaceae Endemic flora of New Zealand Ferns of New Zealand Taxa named by William Colenso Plants described in 1845 {{Cyatheales-stub