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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Small Maidenhair Fern
Adiantum diaphanum
Small Maidenhair Fern is resilient with notable evergreen foliage; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Giant Maidenhair
Adiantum formosum
Spectacular and large evergreen fern with delicate, airy foliage, native to North Island alluvial forests and gorges.
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Rough Maidenhair Fern
Adiantum hispidulum
Rough Maidenhair Fern is resilient with notable shelter value; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Necklace Fern
Asplenium flabellifolium
Necklace Fern is fast-growing with notable restoration use; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Piripiri
Hymenophyllum sanguinolentum
Widespread and uniquely aromatic New Zealand filmy fern that forms dense, dark green mats in forest environments.
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Shore Spleenwort
Asplenium obtusatum
Hardy coastal fern with thick fleshy fronds, built to withstand salt spray and exposed rocky environments.
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Hanging Spleenwort
Asplenium flaccidum
Hanging Spleenwort is coastal-tolerant with notable evergreen foliage; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Huruhuru-Whenua
Asplenium oblongifolium
Huruhuru-Whenua is wind-hardy with notable attractive form; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Sickle Spleenwort
Asplenium polyodon
Sickle Spleenwort is resilient with notable timber value; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Poor Knights Spleenwort
Asplenium pauperequitum
A small, critically endangered native fern endemic to the Poor Knights and Chatham Islands, thriving in dark, damp rock overhangs.
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Richard's Spleenwort
Asplenium richardii
An endemic New Zealand fern with elegant, tripinnate fronds, thriving in montane to alpine environments.
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Southern Shore Spleenwort
Asplenium scleroprium
A hardy native fern with fleshy, deeply toothed fronds, uniquely adapted to the exposed coastal headlands of southern New Zealand.
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Lance Fern
Austroblechnum lanceolatum
Lance Fern is long-lived with notable timber value; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Alpine Water Fern
Austroblechnum penna-marina
Alpine Water Fern is wind-hardy with notable attractive form; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Nini
Blechnum chambersii
A graceful native ground fern with deep green, lance-shaped fronds, forming lush rosettes in the dampest, most shaded niches of the New Zealand forest floor.
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Crown Fern
Blechnum discolor
Crown Fern is resilient with notable attractive form; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Thread Fern
Blechnum filiforme
Thread Fern is coastal-tolerant with notable nectar for wildlife; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Hanging Hard Fern
Blechnum membranaceum
A delicate and distinctive endemic New Zealand fern with deep green toothed fronds, thriving in the dampest, most shaded forest floor and streamside niches.
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Swamp Kiokio
Blechnum minus
A graceful native fern with arching green fronds and bronze-tinted new growth, thriving in New Zealand's wetlands and damp forest gullies.
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Kiokio
Blechnum novae-zelandiae
Kiokio is bird-attracting with notable attractive form; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Small Kiokio
Blechnum procerum
Small Kiokio is fast-growing with notable nectar for wildlife; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Green Bay Kiokio
Blechnum triangularifolium
A robust native fern with large, triangular fronds and upward-pointing sickle-shaped pinnae, specialized for base-rich coastal cliffs and banks.
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Mountain Hard Fern
Blechnum vulcanicum
A hardy and structural native fern with distinctive triangular fronds, thriving on shaded rock faces and cool forest banks throughout New Zealand.
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Moonwort
Botrychium lunaria
A rare and critically endangered small fern, distinctive for its moon-shaped sterile fronds and reliance on specific microhabitats.
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Parsley Fern
Botrychium australe
A unique and seasonal succulent fern with parsley-like fronds, found in open grasslands and forest clearings from lowland to alpine regions.
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River Fern
Cranfillia fluviatilis
River Fern is a distinctive ground-hugging fern with a rosette of fronds, thriving in moist, shaded forest stream margins.
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Button Fern
Pellaea rotundifolia
Button Fern is coastal-tolerant with notable shelter value; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Shaking Brake
Pteris tremula
Shaking Brake is bird-attracting with notable shelter value; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Richard's Shield Fern
Polystichum richardii
Richard's Shield Fern is coastal-tolerant with notable attractive form; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Mamaku
Sphaeropteris medullaris
Mamaku is long-lived with notable timber value; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Long Fork Fern
Tmesipteris elongata
Long Fork Fern is coastal-tolerant with notable evergreen foliage; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Fork Fern
Tmesipteris tannensis
Unique and ancient epiphytic fern ally, typically found hanging from the moisture-rich trunks of forest tree ferns.
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Kidney Fern
Hymenophyllum nephrophyllum
Kidney Fern is coastal-tolerant with notable timber value; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Pouched Coral Fern
Gleichenia dicarpa
Pouched Coral Fern is resilient with notable timber value; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Drooping Filmy Fern
Hymenophyllum demissum
Drooping Filmy Fern is resilient with notable evergreen foliage; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Much-Divided Filmy Fern
Hymenophyllum multifidum
Delicate and intricate filmy fern with highly divided translucent fronds, forming dense carpets in moist forests.
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Hairy Shield Fern
Lastreopsis hispida
Hairy Shield Fern is wind-hardy with notable nectar for wildlife; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Prince of Wales Feather
Leptopteris superba
Prince of Wales Feather is fast-growing with notable timber value; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Kōwaowao
Microsorum pustulatum
Kōwaowao is resilient with notable evergreen foliage; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Common Rasp Fern
Doodia media
Common Rasp Fern is resilient with notable shelter value; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Black Tree Fern
Cyathea medullaris
Black Tree Fern is long-lived with notable nectar for wildlife; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Rārahu
Pteridium esculentum
A vigorous, colonising fern of open sites and disturbed ground across New Zealand. Useful as a pioneer cover but can spread aggressively without management.
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Whēkī
Dicksonia squarrosa
Whēkī is a magnificent native tree fern with fibrous trunk; well suited to New Zealand plantings.
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Autumn Orchid
Earina autumnalis
The Autumn Orchid is an epiphytic or lithophytic orchid known for its fragrant white flowers and graceful appearance.
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Spring Orchid
Earina mucronata
The Spring Orchid is a native New Zealand epiphytic orchid celebrated for its fragrant, delicate spring blooms.
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Whisk Fern
Psilotum nudum
Primitive rootless native plant with architectural whip-like branches and yellow spore capsules.
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Greenhood Orchid
Pterostylis banksii
Pterostylis banksii , the Greenhood Orchid, is a terrestrial orchid from New Zealand, known for its unique, hooded flower.
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Trowel-Leaved Greenhood
Pterostylis trullifolia
Pterostylis trullifolia , the Trowel-leaved Greenhood, is a small terrestrial orchid native to New Zealand, noted for its unique flower shape.
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Southern Greenhood
Pterostylis australis
Pterostylis australis , the Southern Greenhood, is a native New Zealand terrestrial orchid with a distinctive green, hooded flower.
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Hard Fern
Austroblechnum durum
Also known as Leather Fern, this hardy species features robust architectural fronds and plays an important role in New Zealand's southern maritime ecosystems.
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Alpine Hard Fern
Blechnum montanum
Blechnum montanum is an alpine/subalpine hard fern with firm fronds for cool, free-draining rock gardens and forest edges. Learn ID and cultivation.
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Delta-leaved Cranfillia
Cranfillia deltoides
This mountain hard fern produces two distinct types of fronds with delta-shaped triangular leaflets, traditionally used medicinally to treat ailments and suppress hunger.
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Creek Fern
Cranfillia fluviatilis
Cranfillia fluviatilis, also known as the Creek Fern or River Fern, is a striking NZ native fern with symmetrical, radiating fronds that thrive in damp, shaded environments.
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Slender Tree Fern
Cyathea cunninghamii
One of New Zealand's tallest and most elegant tree ferns, distinguished by its thin trunk and delicate, lacy fronds.
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Silver Fern
Cyathea dealbata
Cyathea dealbata, the Silver Fern or Ponga, is an iconic New Zealand tree fern famous for the striking silvery-white underside of its mature fronds.
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Soft Tree Fern
Cyathea smithii
Cyathea smithii, the Soft Tree Fern or Kātote, is a cold-tolerant NZ native tree fern with exceptionally soft fronds and a distinctive skirt of dead fronds around its trunk.
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Fragrant Fern
Dendroconche scandens
Dendroconche scandens, or the Fragrant Fern, is a slender climbing fern with pleasant-smelling fronds, often found growing on tree trunks or rocks in damp forest environments.
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Woolly Tree Fern
Dicksonia lanata
Distinctive native tree fern recognized by its dense coating of reddish-brown woolly hairs and its often prostrate or creeping trunk.
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