Introduction
Overview
New Zealand’s native ferns range from delicate groundcovers to towering tree ferns and are found from damp lowland forests to windswept alpine gullies. They play a vital role in forest structure, sheltering seedlings, stabilising slopes, and creating rich habitat for invertebrates and birds. In gardens, ferns provide year‑round texture and thrive in shaded, moist positions with good organic matter and consistent moisture.
King Fern Ally
Todea barbara
Naturally uncommon fern ally with large divided fronds and a stout crown, suited to damp acidic sheltered sites.
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Silky Umbrella Fern
Sticherus tener
Native silky umbrella fern with fine repeatedly forked fronds, suited to damp forest margins, scrub, banks, and poor soils.
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Fan Umbrella Fern
Sticherus flabellatus
Native umbrella fern with repeatedly forked fronds, common in swamps, pakihi, damp scrub, banks, and poor wet soils.
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Reed Comb Fern
Schizaea fistulosa
Naturally uncommon reed-like comb fern of gumland, peat, pakihi, open scrub, and low-fertility wet soils.
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Fan Fern
Schizaea dichotoma
Naturally uncommon native fan fern with forked flattened fronds, found in kauri forest, coastal forest, and geothermal scrub.
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Leathery Shield Fern
Rumohra adiantiformis
Naturally uncommon leathery fern with glossy divided fronds, native in very local New Zealand coastal habitats.
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Leather-Leaf Fern
Pyrrosia eleagnifolia
Endemic leather-leaf fern with thick simple fronds, able to grow on trunks, cliffs, rocks, banks, and dry urban walls.
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King Fern
Ptisana salicina
Large endemic parā with glossy divided fronds and fleshy crowns, needing warm damp forest shelter and protection from browsing.
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Sweet Fern
Pteris macilenta
Native sweet fern with upright divided fronds, common in forest, scrub, shaded banks, tracksides, and clearings.
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Cretan Brake
Pteris cretica
Exotic naturalised brake fern with narrow finger-like pinnae, often appearing in gardens, walls, shade, and disturbed sites.
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Waving Brake
Pteris comans
Native coastal brake fern with arching divided fronds, suited to shaded banks, cliffs, scrub, and rocky forest margins.
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Common Polypody
Polypodium vulgare
Exotic pest fern with creeping rhizomes and deeply divided fronds, spreading on cliffs, banks, rocks, and dry scrub.
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Australian Cliff Brake
Pellaea falcata
Historically reported sickle fern name now requiring caution because current Biota records mark it foreign and absent in New Zealand.
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Hot Rock Fern
Pellaea calidirupium
Native rock-crevice fern of warm dry cliffs and boulders, with triangular pinnae and marginal sori.
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Ring Fern
Paesia scaberula
Endemic sticky scented fern of open or disturbed ground, rough pasture, grassland, and reverting farmland.
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Royal Fern
Osmunda regalis
Exotic wetland pest fern with large deciduous fronds and distinctive fertile pinnae that spread spores widely.
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Comb Fern
Notogrammitis heterophylla
Native comb fern with divided fronds, growing on trunks, cliffs, boulders, forest rocks, talus, and scree shelter.
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Common Strap Fern
Notogrammitis billardierei
Small native strap fern with simple fronds, common among mosses on trunks, rocks, and shaded forest ground.
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Loxogramme Lance Fern
Loxogramme dictyopteris
Endemic fern with narrow undivided fronds, growing as leafy patches on trunks, rocks, banks, and forest floor.
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Single Crepe Fern
Leptopteris hymenophylloides
Endemic translucent crepe fern of damp lowland to montane forest, banks, streamsides, and ridges.
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Lace Fern
Leptolepia novae-zelandiae
Endemic lace-like fern of deeply shaded damp forest, streamsides, gullies, terraces, banks, and rotting logs.
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Thousand-Leaved Fern
Hypolepis millefolium
Endemic bright green fern with finely divided fronds, common in montane grassland, rocky slopes, scrub, and forest.
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Fan-Like Filmy Fern
Hymenophyllum flabellatum
Native fan-shaped filmy fern of humid forest, tree fern trunks, shaded rocks, cliffs, and banks.
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Cypress Filmy Fern
Hymenophyllum cupressiforme
Small native filmy fern of damp light shade, rocks, banks, scrub, and beech forest.
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Carrier Tangle Fern
Gleichenia microphylla
Native tangle fern with repeatedly forking fronds that forms dense cover in damp scrub and forest margins.
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Rarauhi Nehenehe
Hypolepis ambigua
Endemic creeping fern of disturbed forest, clearings, brackenfield, scrub, grassland, and open banks.
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Filmy Fern
Hymenophyllum bivalve
Delicate mat-forming filmy fern of coastal to montane forest, growing terrestrially or as a low epiphyte.
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Water Fern
Histiopteris incisa
Large creeping water fern with glaucous young fronds, common in clearings, damp banks, forest gaps, and disturbed ground.
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Rock Fern
Cheilanthes sieberi
Hardy dryland rock fern with rigid upright fronds, inrolled margins, and a preference for sunny rocky habitats.
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Woolly Cloak Fern
Cheilanthes distans
Dry rock fern with narrow upright fronds, woolly scales, and a strong preference for sunny cliffs, banks, and scoria.
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Spleenwort
Asplenium trichomanes
Indigenous rock spleenwort with dark polished stems and narrow pinnate fronds, often found in limestone crevices.
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Cave Spleenwort
Asplenium cimmeriorum
Endemic cave and limestone fern of dark, wet calcareous rock faces, cave entrances, and shaded overhangs.
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Annual Fern
Anogramma leptophylla
Small annual fern of dry rocky banks and scoria sites, with delicate pale green fronds that mature in winter and spring.
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Kermadec Tree Fern
Alsophila kermadecensis
Endemic Raoul Island tree fern with a slender clean trunk and arching fronds in warm, wet Kermadec forest.
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Adder's Tongue
Ophioglossum coriaceum
Unique primitive fern with a single leathery leaf and a distinctive upright spore-bearing spike.
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Mangemange
Lygodium articulatum
Mangemange is resilient with notable evergreen foliage; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Jointed Fern
Arthropteris tenella
A native rainforest fern with shiny, dark green fronds that scramble over rocks and climb tree trunks in shaded, humid environments.
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True Maidenhair Fern
Adiantum aethiopicum
Delicate and graceful evergreen fern with wiry black stems and vibrant green, fan-shaped leaflets, native to North Island forests.
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European Maidenhair Fern
Adiantum capillus-veneris
A naturalised maidenhair of warm, damp limestone, seepage, and shaded masonry sites in New Zealand, with fine black stems and fan-shaped green pinnules.
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Cunningham's Maidenhair Fern
Adiantum cunninghamii
Cunningham's Maidenhair Fern is wind-hardy with notable shelter value; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Ground Spleenwort
Asplenium appendiculatum
A resilient fern with dark green, leathery fronds, thriving in cool, damp, and shaded environments across New Zealand.
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Chatham Island Spleenwort
Asplenium chathamense
An endemic fern from the Chatham Islands, known for its stiff, erect fronds and adaptation to coastal environments.
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Hen and Chicken Fern
Asplenium gracillimum
A graceful native fern with slender fronds, thriving in dappled shade and humid conditions in New Zealand and Australia.
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Lyall's Spleenwort
Asplenium lyallii
An endemic New Zealand fern with glossy deep green fronds, adaptable to diverse coastal to alpine habitats.
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Mother Spleenwort
Asplenium bulbiferum
Mother Spleenwort is bird-attracting with notable shelter value; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Rasp Fern
Doodia australis
Rasp Fern is fast-growing with notable restoration use; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Colenso's Hard Fern
Austroblechnum colensoi
Colenso's Hard Fern is wind-hardy with notable restoration use; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Umbrella Fern
Sticherus cunninghamii
Umbrella Fern is fast-growing with notable timber value; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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