Species

Gleichenia alpina

Etymology

Gleichenia: After the German naturalist and plant physiologist Wilhelm Friedrich (Baron) von Gleichen (1717-1783)
alpina: alpine

Common Name(s)

alpine tangle fern

Current Conservation Status

2012 - Not Threatened

Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2012 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2009 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, Paul D. Champion, Shannel P. Courtney, Peter B. Heenan, John W. Barkla, Ewen K. Cameron, David A. Norton and Rodney A. Hitchmough. File size: 792KB

Previous Conservation Status

2009 - Not Threatened
2004 - Not Threatened

Qualifiers

2012 - SO

Authority

Gleichenia alpina R.Br.

Family

Gleicheniaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

GLEALP

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Ferns

Synonyms

Mertensia alpina (R.Br.) Poir.; Platyzoma alpinum (R.Br.) Desv.; Calymella alpina (R.Br.) C.Presl, Gleichenia dicarpa var. alpina (R.Br.) Hook.f.

Distribution

Indigenous. New Zealand: North and South Islands. Exact distribution still unclear but plants matching G. alpina are known from the Central Volcanic Plateau, Takaka, and Denniston Plateau, and plants sharing the same haplotype as limited sampling of Tasmanian G. alpina are known from Mt Somers (Perrie et al. 2007). Currently the status of G. alpina in New Zealand requires further study as some reduced forms of G. dicarpa can be easily confused with it.

Habitat

Lowland to alpine. In peat bogs, on the margins of tarns and in poor drained fell field

Features

Rhizome 0.8-2.0 diameter, at first with scattered appressed dark brown rounded prominently ciliate scales. Fronds of 1-8 tiers of branches, 100-220(-420) mm long, rarely more than 0.6 m wide, at first completely covered with red-brown scales, glabrescent; lower tiers often branched 1-3×. Stipes clustered along rhizomes, 40-420 mm long, initially bearing dark brown scales with long white matted ciliate margins, glabrescent, smooth; rachis and undersurfaces of upper branches with persistent, red-brown scales with paler ciliate margins, completely obscuring undersurface of pinnules. Pinnules with brown hairs along costae on upper side, with dense reddish scales at first completely obscuring the undersurface; ultimate segments 0.7-1.0 mm long, 0.6-1.1 mm wide,round, obtuse, strongly convex above, puched below; undersurface usually white. Sori of 2 sporangia.

Similar Taxa

Gleichenia alpina is very similar to G. dicarpa from which it differs by its consistently smaller fronds (rarely > 60 mm wide, and rounded rather than lanceolate scales. Recently it has been shown that Gleichenia alpina is present in New Zealand, though its exact distribution is still unclear (Perrie et al. 2007; Perrie et al. 2012).

Flowering

N.A.

Fruiting

N.A.

Propagation Technique

Fickle. Probably best left alone. Transplants have been successfully grown when planted into a half peat and pumice mix within pots kept partially immersed in water. But results vary and plants tend to resent any root disturbance

Threats

Not Threatened

Endemic Taxon

No

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Where To Buy

Not commercially available


Attribution

Fact Sheet Prepared for NZPCN by: P.J. de Lange 15 March 2011. Description adapted from Chinnock & Bell (1998).

References and further reading

Chinnock, R.J.; Bell, G.H. 1998: Gleicheniaceae. Flora of Australia 48: 148-162.

de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R. 2010: New Zealand Indigenous Vascular Plant Checklist. Wellington, New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. 164pp.

Perrie, L.R.; Bayly, M.J.; Lehnebach, C.A.; Brownsey, P.J. 2007: Molecular phylogenetics and molecular dating of the New Zealand Gleicheniaceae. Brittonia 56: 129–141.

Perrie, L.R.; Shephard, L.D.; Brownsey, P.J. 2012: Gleichenia inclusisora, a new and uncommon tangle fern from New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 50: 401-410.

This page last updated on 27 Oct 2019