''Leptopteris superba'', commonly called Prince of Wales feathers or common crape fern, is a fern in the genus ''

Leptopteris The fern genus ''Leptopteris'' is a small group of plants found growing in the Pacific Islands, New Guinea and Australia. They are similar to ferns in the related genus ''Todea'', and were originally included in that genus. However, the very thi ...

''. It is considered

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 elsew ...

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: Northland,

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, Volcanic Plateau, Gisborne,

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, Southern North Island.

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: Western Nelson, Sounds-Nelson,

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Fiordland.

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. Altitudinal range: 0–1600 m. ''Leptopteris superba'' has a predominantly southern distribution, occurring from Mt. Te Aroha southwards, apart from an isolated record (Rawlings 1972) from c. 700 m in Waipoua Forest (CHR 191223) and a 19th-century collection by E.M. Smith from Little Barrier Island (AK 119092). In the North Island it is common in montane forest from Te Aroha to Wellington, occurring from about 250 m up to 1400 m on Maungapōhatu in the Urewera Ranges. In the South Island it is abundant in wet forest on the west side of the Main Divide, in the Marlborough Sounds, and around Dunedin and the Catlins, extending also to Stewart Island. It occurs from sea level in Fiordland to about 1600 m in the Takitimu Ranges near Monowai.Flora of New Zealand
''Leptopteris superba'' (Colenso) C. Presl It is characterized by having large fronds (around a meter in length) with large sporangia on their undersides.
The shape of the fronds
is elliptical (similar to that of

Ostrich Fern ''Matteuccia'' is a genus of ferns with one species: ''Matteuccia struthiopteris'' (common names ostrich fern, fiddlehead fern, or shuttlecock fern). The species epithet ''struthiopteris'' comes from Ancient Greek words () "ostrich" and () "fer ...

). It grows from wet lowlands to montane forests.

References

External links

iNaturalist observations
of ''Leptopteris superba'' Osmundales Ferns of New Zealand Plants described in 1848 {{NewZealand-plant-stub