''Tmesipteris'', the hanging fork ferns, is a genus of ferns, one of two genera in the family Psilotaceae, order Psilotales (the other being ''

Psilotum ''Psilotum'' is a genus of fern-like vascular plants. It is one of two genera in the family Psilotaceae commonly known as whisk ferns, the other being ''Tmesipteris''. Plants in these two genera were once thought to be descended from the earlies ...

''). ''Tmesipteris'' is restricted to certain lands in the Southern Pacific, notably

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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 ...

and

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

. In New Zealand this hanging

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

is common in the warm temperate rain forests of both main islands, where it can normally be found as short spiky dark-green fronds (10–15 cm long), often with lighter bag-like

sporangia A sporangium (; from Late Latin, ) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a single cell or can be multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungi, and many other lineages form sporangia at some point in their life cy ...

at the bases of some of its "leaves". The plant possesses no true leaves; what appear to be leaves are flattened stems. The fronds emerge directly from the fibrous root-mats which clad the trunks of mature tree ferns such as ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Cyathea ''Cyathea'' is a genus of tree ferns, the type genus of the fern order Cyatheales. The genus name ''Cyathea'' is derived from the Greek ''kyatheion'', meaning "little cup", and refers to the cup-shaped sori on the underside of the fronds. Des ...

''. ''Tmesipteris'' is from the Greek language, meaning a "cut fern", referring to the truncated leaf tips.

Species

Species include: *''

Tmesipteris elongata ''Tmesipteris elongata'' is a fern ally endemic to south eastern Australia and New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () a ...

'' P.A.Dang - from Australia (Victoria and Tasmania) and New Zealand (

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 Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

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 ...

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...

) *''

Tmesipteris gracilis ''Tmesipteris'', the hanging fork ferns, is a genus of ferns, one of two genera in the family Psilotaceae, order Psilotales (the other being ''Psilotum''). ''Tmesipteris'' is restricted to certain lands in the Southern Pacific, notably Australia, ...

'' Chinnock 2003 *''

Tmesipteris horomaka ''Tmesipteris horomaka'', commonly known as the Banks Peninsula fork fern, is a fern ally endemic to New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses� ...

'' Perrie, Brownsey & Lovis - New Zealand (

Banks Peninsula Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves. The South Island's largest cit ...

) *''

Tmesipteris lanceolata ''Tmesipteris'', the hanging fork ferns, is a genus of ferns, one of two genera in the family Psilotaceae, order Psilotales (the other being ''Psilotum''). ''Tmesipteris'' is restricted to certain lands in the Southern Pacific, notably Australia ...

'' P.A.Dang. - from New Caledonia and New Zealand (presumed extinct in

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). *''

Tmesipteris norfolkensis ''Tmesipteris'', the hanging fork ferns, is a genus of ferns, one of two genera in the family Psilotaceae, order Psilotales (the other being ''Psilotum''). ''Tmesipteris'' is restricted to certain lands in the Southern Pacific, notably Australia, ...

'' P.S.Green - Hanging Fork-fern *''

Tmesipteris obliqua ''Tmesipteris obliqua,'' more commonly known as the long fork-fern or common fork-fern, is a weeping, epiphytic fern ally with narrow unbranched leafy stems. ''T. obliqua'' is a member of the genus ''Tmesipteris'', commonly known as hanging fork- ...

'' Chinnock - Long Fork-fern *''

Tmesipteris oblongifolia ''Tmesipteris'', the hanging fork ferns, is a genus of ferns, one of two genera in the family Psilotaceae, order Psilotales (the other being ''Psilotum''). ''Tmesipteris'' is restricted to certain lands in the Southern Pacific, notably Australia, ...

'' A.F.Braithw. 1986 *''

Tmesipteris ovata ''Tmesipteris ovata'' is a fern ally endemic to eastern Australia. The habitat of this primitive plant is on tree ferns in rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the p ...

'' N.A.Wakef. - Oval Fork-fern *''

Tmesipteris parva ''Tmesipteris parva'' is a fern ally endemic to eastern Australia. The habitat of this primitive plant is on tree ferns in moist eucalyptus forests rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-de ...

'' N.A.Wakef. - Small Fork-fern *''

Tmesipteris sigmatifolia ''Tmesipteris'', the hanging fork ferns, is a genus of ferns, one of two genera in the family Psilotaceae, order Psilotales (the other being ''Psilotum''). ''Tmesipteris'' is restricted to certain lands in the Southern Pacific, notably Australia, ...

'' Chinn. - from New Caledonia and New Zealand *''

Tmesipteris solomonensis ''Tmesipteris'', the hanging fork ferns, is a genus of ferns, one of two genera in the family Psilotaceae, order Psilotales (the other being ''Psilotum''). ''Tmesipteris'' is restricted to certain lands in the Southern Pacific, notably Australia, ...

'' Braithwaite 1973 *''

Tmesipteris tannensis ''Tmesipteris tannensis'' is a fern ally endemic to New Zealand. It is usually epiphytic on trees and tree ferns, but is occasionally terrestrial. An example of occurrence of ''T. tannensis'' within a tiered phytocoenosis is in Central Westland ...

'' (

Spreng. Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel (3 August 1766 – 15 March 1833) was a German botanist and physician who published an influential multivolume history of medicine, ''Versuch einer pragmatischen Geschichte der Arzneikunde'' (1792–99 in four vo ...

)

Bernh. Johann Jakob Bernhardi (1 September 1774, in Erfurt – 13 May 1850, in Erfurt) was a German doctor and botanist. Biography Johann J. Bernhardi studied Medicine and Botany at the University of Erfurt, and after graduation practiced medicine for a ...

- New Zealand *'' Tmesipteris truncata'' (R.Br.) Desv.

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(

) *'' Tmesipteris vanuatensis'' Braithwaite 1986 *'' Tmesipteris vieillardii'' P.A.Dang - from New Caledonia *'' Tmesipteris zamorae'' Gruèzo & Amoroso, 2012 - from Philippines

Phylogeny

Nitta et al. 2022 and Fern Tree of life

References

*''Bierhorst, D W (1977) The Systematic Position of Psilotum and Tmesipteris, Brittonia (New York Botanical Garden Press)'' *''Qiu, Y-L and Palmer, J (1999) Phylogeny of early land plants: insights from genes and genomes. Trends in Plant Science 4 (1), 26-30'' Psilotaceae Epiphytes Fern genera {{fern-stub