Gleichenia dicarpa

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information

Wikipedia links:       Monilophytes > Gleicheniales > Gleicheniaceae > Gleichenia dicarpa

Other links:    

Plant  information

Common name:         Pouched Coral Fern  

• Common names in New Zealand include tangle fern, Spider fern, and swamp umbrella fern.

• Australian common names include pouched coral fern, and wiry coral fern

Conservation status: . . .

Etymology:   

• Its genus name honours the German botanist W.F. von Gleichen

• Its species name is Ancient Greek for "two fruit"

Spores:                            

• In fertile fronds, two spores lie within the pouch

• It is these pouches which give the fern its common name

• The spores are yellowish and darken to black when ripe

Leaves:         

• Has numerous fronds arising more or less vertically from a thin many branched rhizome

• Each frond can reach 2 m in length with pinnae up to 4 cm long

• The smallest end-branches, known as pinnules, are a mere 1 to 1.5 mm long and recurved margins that give them a cup- or pouch shape

• Fronds growing in sunnier areas often have a bleached yellow coloration

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

Habitat:   

• It forms tangled thickets in wet places such as swamps and riverbanks

• A common plant, often seen growing under waterfalls, in peatlands, under cliffs and in tall open forest

• It can grow in nutrient poor conditions, preferring high humidity and good levels of sunshine and moisture

• Its tangled roots collect detritus and prevent erosion

• It can also be a pioneer species of disturbed ground.

Distribution:                  

• Found in eastern Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand

• Found throughout eastern Australia, from Queensland through NSW and Victoria and in Tasmania

• It is widespread in Tasmania, where it is found up to altitudes of 900 m

• It is widely distributed in New Zealand, where it is found on North, South and Stewart Islands, as well as the Chatham Islands 

• It is also found in New Caledonia

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • Collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander in November 1769 at Mercury Bay in New Zealand

  •  It appeared in the 1810 work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae, authored by prolific botanist Robert Brown

  • The taxonomy is more complicated than previously thought; a genetic study of the DNA of Gleicheniaceae from New Zealand and Tasmania indicate that a smaller shorter-branched "upland" form from New Zealand is in fact more closely related to the Tasmanian G. alpina than to other New Zealand G. dicarpa

  • Furthermore, G. microphylla is also nested within various populations of G. dicarpa

• Cultivation

  • Although not commercially available, ita can be readily propagated from spores

  • It grows as long as it is not allowed to dry out and is not otherwise disturbed

  • It prefers acidic soil and sunny aspect

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleichenia_dicarpa (2023)