Filmy Ferns

Hymenophyllum

Definition of filmy ferns

Filmy ferns vary very much in appearance. They are a small fern which grow in damp shady places, e.g under dense forest. They have with wiry creeping stems and delicate forked fronds which are only one cell thick. They can be both Epiphytic, terrestrial (grow in trees or on land) and rupestral (grow on rocks). They are over all very common

There are twenty-one species of filmy ferns in New Zealand,

Fifteen of which are endemic. The following are found north of Auckland

Hymenophyllum armstrongii

Occurs most frequently as an epiphyte at lower altitudes, often intertwined with mosses and liverworts, on the branches of a wide variety of forest trees, but it is also found forming mats on damp rock, in rock crevices and under overhangs at higher altitudes. It occurs under kauri, podocarp, beech and broadleaved forest and in subalpine scrub, herbfield and tussock grassland

Hymenophyllum demissum

The most common of all New Zealand filmy ferns and is found most frequently on the ground, or on rocks, banks and fallen trunks and stumps, but also as an epiphyte. It has been recorded on the trunks of most types of tall trees

Hymenophyllum dilatatum –

this is the largest of New Zealand filmy ferns and is tends to be Epiphytic or rarely terrestrial ferns. It is found under mature podocarp, and broadleaf forest t, growing on the ground, on river banks, rock faces and fallen logs and trunks, or as an epiphyte in wet areas

Hymenophyllum eltatum

Hymenophyllum flabellatum

Occurs under kauri, podocarp, beech, broadleaved forest and scrub, usually as an epiphyte but also hanging from rotten logs, fallen trunks and steep banks, at the base of trunks, and on boulders and wet rock faces.

Hymenophyllum flexuosum –

Terrestrial, rupestral or occasionally epiphytic ferns – distinguished from almost all other species of the genus in New Zealand by the broad flexuous wings on the stipes, rachises and primary pinnae. Occurs in podocarp, beech and broadleaved forest, and under mature kānuka, growing on the ground, in damp hollows, on damp rocks and banks, streamsides, under overhangs, on tree roots, on rotten logs and old tree stumps, and as a low trunk epiphyte. It has been recorded growing epiphytically

Hymenophyllum Frankliniae

Occurs in wet kauri, podocard broadleaved forest, most commonly as an epiphyte but also on rotten logs and stumps, and on wet rocks, bluffs or banks. It grows frequently on trunks of tree ferns.

Hymenophyllum multifidum

Terrestrial or epiphytic fern often forming thick patches on substrate .

Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum

Terrestrial, rupestral or low epiphytic ferns and is found in a wide range of habitats from wet forests to lava fields. It inhabits the forest floor where it will often form extensive mats, as well as on banks, rocks, fallen trees and as an epiphyte in Kauri podocarp, broadleaved and beech forest, and in old kānuka scrub on lower trunks and branches.

Hymenophyllum revolutum

Epiphytic, terrestrial or rupestral ferns. Occurs under kauri, podocarp, beech and broadleaved forest, in kānuka and mānuka scrub and rarely in subalpine scrub, growing on the ground, on damp moss-covered banks and rocks, on rotten logs and stumps, at the base of tree trunks and as an epiphyte.

Hymenophyllum rufescens

Hymenophyllum sanguinolentum

A very common and widespread species of closed or open forest and shrub-land. Also a common species of shaded canyon walls, cliff faces, rock tors, boulder-field and talus slopes. Hymenophyllum sanguinolentum is extremely drought resistant and as such one of the few filmy ferns to grow within drought-prone habitats.

Hymenophyllum villosum

add kidney ferns – Raurenga

Non endemic to New Zealand

Hymenophyllum australe

This species was previously known as H. atrovirens and considered endemic to New Zealand. Rupestral ( grows on rocks) ferns or rarely low epiphytes. In New Zealand Hymenophyllum australe is restricted to a very specific habitat, usually growing on rock, or rarely low on tree trunks, in and around flowing water in shaded habitats. It can grow partially submerged or just above the level of flowing water, on boulders in stream beds, beside waterfalls or in seepages.

Hymenophyllum cupressiforme

Occurs under light shade in kānuka and mānuka scrub, and in beech forest, less commonly in podocarp or broadleaved forest, usually growing on the ground, on rocks, scoria, or banks in damp areas. It has toothed margins

Hymenophyllum ferrugineum

In closed forest where it is usually found epiphytic on the trunks of tree ferns (especially species of Dicksonia) and kamahi (Weinmannia racemosa). Occasionally (especially in very wet forest) it may be found growing on clay banks or amongst mosses on damp boulders.

Hymenophyllum peltatum

Hymenophyllum labellatum

Hymenophyllum rarum

Epiphytic, terrestrial or rupestral ferns and is a small filmy fern recognisable by its grey-green, very thin, glabrous laminae with entire margins, and sori immersed in the broad ultimate lamina segments. Despite its very thin frond, the species has remarkable resistance to drought, rarely curling up even in the driest conditions. Occurs under kauri, podocarp, beech and broadleaved forest, and in mānuka, kānuka and subalpine scrub, often as an epiphyte but also growing on the ground, on dead stumps, at the base of tree trunks, on rock faces, clay banks, under overhangs and on scoria. It can grow in exposed sites as well as in shaded forest or scrub. It has been recorded growing epiphytically on a wide range of species

Conservation

Referances for ferns
NZ flora