#cyathea dealbata

[earthstory]

The Silver Fern

Cyathea dealbata, also known as silver fern or ponga, has become the embodiment of the spirit of New Zealand. It is a scaly tree fern with a trunk up to 10 m tall and has a white or silver coloring at the underside of its fronds. The silver fern is endemic to New Zealand, which means it naturally occurs nowhere else in the world.

New Zealand has an unusually high number of fern species for a temperate country as ferns are mostly a tropical group. The country has about 200 different fern species and about 40 percent of those are endemic. Ferns are typically found in moist, forested areas, however some species have adapted to other drier habitats.

The silver fern, for example, prefers warmer and drier habitats. It is widespread and common in the North Island but also occurs in some places in the South Island where the coloring of the fronds is white in most bigger plants instead of silver.

Maori hunters and warriors have used the underside of the silver fern leaves to mark a path. When laid out on the ground the underside of the fronds would reflect the moonlight at night and illuminate a path easy to follow.

Xandi

Image Credit: http://bit.ly/2lbuIVZ Sources: http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-plants/ferns/ http://bit.ly/2kBW2A0 http://bit.ly/2kfkNkp

[reduxlibrary]

[ambertravels]

 this is a ponga- 

"Silver Fern" redirects here. For other uses, see Silver Fern (disambiguation).

Silver fernFrond, showing silver undersideScientific classificationKingdom:PlantaeDivision:PteridophytaClass:PteridopsidaOrder:CyathealesFamily:CyatheaceaeGenus:CyatheaSubgenus:CyatheaSection:AlsophilaSpecies:C. dealbataBinomial nameCyathea dealbata (G. Forster) Swartz, 1801Synonyms

Polypodium dealbatum G. Forster, 1786

Cyathea tricolor Colenso, 1883

Alsophila tricolor (Colenso) Tryon, 1970

Cyathea dealbata, or the silver tree fern or silver fern (kaponga or ponga in the Māori language), is a species of medium-sized tree fern, endemic to New Zealand.[1] It is a symbol commonly associated with the country both overseas and by New Zealanders themselves.[2]

This fern is known to grow to heights of 10 m or more (though it occasionally takes a rare creeping form). The crown is dense, and the fronds tend to be about 4 m long and have a silver-white colouration on the undersides. This distinctive silver colouration has made them useful for laying along tracks for night walking. The scales are a dark brown and are often twisted and glossy.[3]

Arriving relatively late in New Zealand's history during the Pliocene epoch[4](around 5.0–1.8 million years ago), the silver fern occurs on the main islands of New Zealand and on the Chatham Islands to the east, mostly in the subcanopy areas of drier forests and in open scrub. It is known to grow well in well-drainedhumus, and once established, it will tolerate drier conditions. It does best when sheltered from winds and should be protected from frost. It does not grow under the dense canopy of mature forests.