''Cranfillia fluviatilis'',

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

''Blechnum fluviatile'', is a

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

known in the

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

as kiwikiwi. A

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

plant, ''C. fluviatilis'' is a "hard fern" of the genus ''

Cranfillia ''Cranfillia'' is a genus of ferns in the family Blechnaceae, subfamily Blechnoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The genus is accepted in a 2016 classification of the family Blechnaceae, but othe ...

'' 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 (PP ...

. It was identified by

Patrick Brownsey Patrick John Brownsey (5 May 1948 – 3 November 2023) was a British-born New Zealand botanist who specialised in the systematics of New Zealand ferns, and was for 44 years curator of botany at the National Museum of New Zealand and Te Papa. ...

in 1979.Blechnum fluviatile (R.Br.) Salomon; syntype of Lomaria rotundifolia Colenso - Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ
/ref> Other common names are star fern, creek fern, kawakawa and kiwakiwa.

Morphology

Ladderlike fronds of ''C. fluviatilis'' measure up to long. Growing in a distinctive ground-hugging

rosette Rosette is the French diminutive of ''rose''. It may refer to: Flower shaped designs * Rosette (award), a mark awarded by an organisation * Rosette (design), a small flower design *hence, various flower-shaped or rotational symmetric forms: ** R ...

shape, its fertile

frond A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...

s – dark brown and spiky – stand upright from the centre, while the drooping sterile fronds with their nearly round leaflets, form the rosette. As the parent plant ages it develops a short trunk central to a surrounding colony.

Range and ecology

The hardy ''C. fluviatilis'' requires moist, shaded conditions for optimal growth. A small ground fern, the species is native to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and southeast

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, a syntype common throughout the country in damp, shady areas in acidic, moist and boggy soil, beside streams in forest areas. This fern species occurs throughout much of New Zealand's forests, including much of the forested area of

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

; west, north and south coasts of

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

; and

Stewart Island / Rakiura Stewart Island (, 'Aurora, glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, formerly New Leinster) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island wit ...

; moreover, it occurs in parts of the coastal forests of southeast Australia. Example understory flora associates in the mixed broadleaf/

podocarp Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly southern hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pres ...

forests of Rakiura include ''

Austroblechnum durum ''Austroblechnum durum'', synonym ''Blechnum durum'', is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae. The fern is endemic to New Zealand. Description Thomas Moore described this species as follows: Taxonomy This fern was first described by M ...

''.C. Michael Hogan. 2009
''Crown Fern: Blechnum discolor'', Globaltwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg

History

It was collected by

William Colenso William Colenso (17 November 1811 – 10 February 1899) FRS was a Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand, and also a printer, botanist, explorer and politician. He attended the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and later wrote an acco ...

in December 1841, at the precise locality of woods near

Poverty Bay Poverty Bay (Māori language, Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa''), officially named Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay, is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawke Bay. It stretches for ...

in the

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q42734707, from2=Q4925792 Blechnaceae Ferns of New Zealand Ferns of Australia Flora of the Antipodes Islands Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of Tasmania Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)