Blechnum fluviatile

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

Blechnum fluviatile is a 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][1]

Morphology

Ladderlike fronds of B. fluviatile 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.^[2] As the parent plant ages it develops a short trunk central to a surrounding colony.

Range and ecology

The hardy B. fluviatile requires moist, shaded conditions for optimal growth. A small ground fern, the B. fluviatile is native to New Zealand and southeast Australia, a syntype common throughout the country in damp, shady areas in acidic, moist and boggy soil,^[3] beside streams in forest areas.^[2] This fern species occurs throughout much of New Zealand's forests, including much of the forested area of North Island; west, north and south coasts of South Island; and Stewart Island/Rakiura; moreover, it occurs in parts of the coastal forests of southeast Australia. Example understory flora associates in the mixed broadleaf/podocarp forests of Rakiura include Blechnum blechnoides and Blechnum durum.^[4]

History

It was collected by William Colenso in December 1841, at the precise locality of woods near Poverty Bay in the North Island.^[1]

References