Blechnum fluviatile

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Blechnum fluviatile
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pteridophyta Class: Pteridopsida Order: Athyriales Family: Blechnaceae Genus: Blechnum Species: B. fluviatile
Binomial name
Blechnum fluviatile (R.Br.) Lowe ex Salomon

Blechnum fluviatile is a New Zealand fern known in the Māori language as kiwikiwi. A herbaceous plant, B. fluviatile is a "hard fern" of the Blechnum genus in the Blechnaceae family. It was identified by Patrick Brownsey in 1979.^[1] Other common names are Star fern, Creek fern, Kawakawa and Kiwakiwa.^[2][3]

Contents 1 Type 2 Conditions 3 History 4 References

[edit] Type

A small ground fern, the B. fluviatile is native to New Zealand, a syntype common throughout the country in damp, shady areas in acidic, moist and boggy soil,^[4] beside streams in forest areas.^[5] Its ladderlike fronds measure up to 50 cm (20 in) long. Growing in a distinctive ground-hugging rosette shape, its fertile fronds – dark brown and spiky – stand upright from the centre, while the drooping sterile fronds with their nearly round leaflets, form the rosette.^[6] As the parent plant ages it develops a short trunk central to a surrounding colony.

[edit] Conditions

The hardy B. fluviatile requires moist, shaded conditions for optimal growth.

[edit] History

It was collected by William Colenso in December 1841, at the precise locality of woods near Poverty Bay in the North Island.^[7]

[edit] References