''Sadleria cyatheoides'', commonly known as amaumau fern
or amau, 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 except t ...
species in the family
Blechnaceae
Blechnaceae is a family of ferns in the order Polypodiales, with a cosmopolitan distribution. Its status as a family and the number of genera included have both varied considerably. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 ( ...
, in the
eupolypods II
Aspleniineae is a suborder of ferns in the order Polypodiales. It is equivalent to the clade eupolypods II in earlier systems; it is also treated as a single very broadly defined family Aspleniaceae. The suborder generally corresponds with the o ...
clade
[ of the order ]Polypodiales
The order Polypodiales encompasses the major lineages of polypod ferns, which comprise more than 80% of today's fern species. They are found in many parts of the world including tropical, semitropical and temperate areas.
Description
Polypodiale ...
,[ in the class ]Polypodiopsida
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 except th ...
.[ It is ]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 ...
to Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
and inhabits lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...
flows, open areas, and wet forests on all major islands
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
up to an altitude of . Reaching a height of and a trunk diameter of , amau resembles a small tree fern
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 tree ...
. Kīlauea
Kīlauea ( , ) is an active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. Located along the southeastern shore of the Big Island of Hawaii, the volcano is between 210,000 and 280,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago. Hi ...
's Halemaʻumaʻu
Halemaumau (''six syllables: HAH-lay-MAH-oo-MAH-oo'') is a pit crater within the much larger Kīlauea Caldera at the summit of Kīlauea volcano on island of Hawaii (island), Hawaiʻi. The roughly circular crater was x before collapses that ...
is named for this species.
Description
The young fronds are often tinged red to block harmful rays from the sun.[Read on a sign in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on 31.10.2013]
References
External links
''Sadleria cyatheoides''.
NatureServe. 2012.
*
*
Blechnaceae
Endemic flora of Hawaii
Native ferns of Hawaii
Plants described in 1824
{{Polypodiales-stub