Tag Archives: fern

DNA sequences reveal unexpected fern relationships

18 March 2013 – 9.08am

Recently I have been obtaining DNA sequences from some of the fern samples collected by Te Papa Botany curator Leon Perrie on his recent trip to New Caledonia. We aim to determine the relationships of these New Caledonian ferns to other ferns around the world, including those from New Zealand.

One sample, however, gave us a surprising result. Two of the New Caledonian samples had previously been identified by Leon as members of the fern genus Dryopteris, based on their morphology. The genus Dryopteris has not previously been recorded from New Caledonia, so Leon was quite excited by these finds.

The DNA sequences established that one of these samples is indeed a Dryopteris, thus confirming that this genus is present in New Caledonia. However, the other sample unexpectedly grouped with another, albeit related, fern genus!

Watch this space as we do more work to try and establish the identity of this mystery fern.

The mystery New Caledonian fern that looks remarkably like a Dryopteris. Photo credit: Leon Perrie

The mystery New Caledonian fern that looks remarkably like a Dryopteris Photo credit: Leon Perrie.

By Lara Shepherd | Posted in Biodiversity, Ferns, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments (0)

More tangle – a new species of tangle fern

1 February 2013 – 11.00am

I’d like to introduce a new species of New Zealand fern, Gleichenia inclusisora. Our scientific description was published just before Christmas 2012. The recognition of this species edges the number of native New Zealand fern and lycophyte species nearly to 200.

Abstract of paper describing Gleichenia inclusisora.

Email me if you would like a pdf of the paper.

Te Papa’s list of New Zealand ferns and lycophytes.

Frond underside of Gleichenia inclusisora. The white and flattish frond segments are one of its distinctive features. The undersides of the frond segments of Gleichenia dicarpa are whitish but pouched, while those of Gleichenia microphylla are flat but green. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa

Frond underside of Gleichenia inclusisora. The white and flattish frond segments are one of its distinctive features. The undersides of the frond segments of Gleichenia dicarpa are whitish but pouched, while those of Gleichenia microphylla are flat but green. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa

The specific part of the name, inclusisora, refers to the reproductive structures (the sori) being embedded (included) in a pit within the frond. In other New Zealand Gleichenia species, the reproductive structures sit on the surface of the frond undersides.

Close-up of the frond underside of Gleichenia inclusisora. The reproductive structures (sori) each comprise three sporangia (which produce the spores, the yellow dots) embedded in a pit in the frond. Some empty pits are visible. The distinctive rounded, bicoloured scales can also be seen at top left. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Close-up of the frond underside of Gleichenia inclusisora. The reproductive structures (sori) each comprise three sporangia (which produce the spores, the yellow dots) embedded in a pit in the frond. Some empty pits are visible. The distinctive rounded, bicoloured scales can also be seen at top left. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Blog post with an image close-up of the distinctive scales of Gleichenia inclusisora.

Except when very young, the lower stems of Gleichenia inclusisora are usually naked of scales or hairs, in contrast to the other Gleichenia species in New Zealand. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Except when very young, the lower stems of Gleichenia inclusisora are nearly naked of scales or hairs, in contrast to the other Gleichenia species in New Zealand. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

All four Gleichenia species presently recognised in New Zealand can grow together, to the extent of intertwining. Gleichenia inclusisora most commonly co-occurs with Gleichenia dicarpa. Gleichenia inclusisora (right) often has a shinier upper-surface, sometimes allowing the two species to be distinguished at a distance. However, this doesn’t always work as well as it does in this photo! Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

All four Gleichenia species presently recognised in New Zealand can grow together, to the extent of intertwining. Gleichenia inclusisora most commonly co-occurs with Gleichenia dicarpa. Gleichenia inclusisora (right) often has a shinier upper surface, usually allowing the two species to be distinguished at a distance. However, this doesn’t always work as well as it does in this photo! Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Tangle fern is the common name in New Zealand for Gleichenia ferns, and they are so-called because their long, repeatedly-dividing stems grow tangled with one another and other plants.

The new species has a number of features that easily distinguish it from the other Gleichenia species in New Zealand. So why has it not being recognised until now? Well, like their growth-form, their taxonomy (classification and naming) is also tangled, being confusing and neglected. The recognition of Gleichenia inclusisora is easy enough, but more study of the other New Zealand Gleichenia is required, particularly the separation between what we currently call Gleichenia dicarpa and Gleichenia microphylla, as well as on the diversity evident within Gleichenia dicarpa.

Blog post on how Gleichenia inclusisora was first discovered.

Te Papa’s collections, with maps and photos, of:

Gleichenia alpina.

Gleichenia dicarpa.

Gleichenia inclusisora.

Gleichenia microphylla.

We suggested Gleichenia inclusisora have a conservation ranking of Naturally Uncommon.  It has a scattered distribution, with living populations known from Coromandel and along the South Island’s West Coast. . You’re most likely to encounter it in the Westport-Greymouth area, where populations can be locally extensive.

Distribution map of Gleichenia inclusisora based on Te Papa’s collections.

But please look out for this distinctive species elsewhere; it is quite possible that populations remain to be discovered. Leave a comment below, or email me.

Our description of Gleichenia inclusisora is part of an intensive revisionary effort as we write an eFlora for New Zealand’s ferns and lycophytes. This will comprise a detailed digital guide to these plants. Work in progress will see the number of native ferns and lycophytes recognised in New Zealand top 200 within the next few years; we already know of several more new or otherwise currently unrecognised species.

Some of the eFlora treatments already available for New Zealand ferns:

Osmundaceae (including Leptopteris).

Microsorum.

Lygodiaceae and Schizaeaceae.

Blog posts about other new ferns we have described recently:

Lastreopsis kermadecensis.

Tmesipteris horomaka.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Biodiversity, Ferns, Plants | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (2)

Where to find new species?

13 November 2012 – 9.54am

Where would you go to find a new species?

Perhaps somewhere remote and little-visited, especially if it is ecologically unusual – New Caledonia maybe…

Well, instead, how about inside Te Papa’s collections, because that’s where I first discovered a new species of Gleichenia tangle fern.

Biodiversity-treasure – inside one of Te Papa’s two botany collection stores. Te Papa has over 250 000 dried plant specimens. Copyright Te Papa.

A lot of biodiversity remains to be documented, particularly amongst smaller plants and animals, and micro-organisms.  But in a well-explored country like New Zealand, it is uncommon to find a clearly distinct new species of fern or seed plant.  Instead, taxonomists like myself spend a lot of time with statistical and/or genetic analyses trying to determine whether similar things are sufficiently different to be classified as separate species.

A tangle of tangle ferns – the new species growing intermixed with Gleichenia dicarpa, western South Island. Photo Leon Perrie, Te Papa.

You might, then, appreciate my surprise and excitement at finding an obviously different species while inspecting Te Papa’s specimens of Gleichenia.  The differences were so great, I thought I was hallucinating.  I was using a microscope at the time, but the differences are evident to the naked eye once you know what to look for.

I’ve now checked through New Zealand’s three biggest botanical collections – Landcare Research, Auckland Museum, and Te Papa.  Between them they hold several hundred Gleichenia specimens, but just 13 of the new species (only 2 of Te Papa’s 250 specimens of Gleichenia are the new species).

Using these collections I’ve been able to determine:
• how to distinguish the new species from the other species of Gleichenia in New Zealand (and Australia).
• where it occurs – it appears restricted to just three regions of New Zealand.
• how common it is – apparently not very.

This is a clear demonstration of the value of such collections – they document our biodiversity.  I knew a lot about this new species without even stepping outside.

A paper establishing a scientific name for the new species will be published soon.  I’ll then post on how to distinguish the new species.

Why has this new species not been detected before?  There’s no doubt that tangle ferns are a difficult group, and they’ve probably been neglected.  There is still much to learn about the boundaries between the presently recognised species in New Zealand - Gleichenia alpina, G. dicarpa, and G. microphylla - and I’m working on that too.

Images associated with some of Te Papa’s Gleichenia specimens.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Biodiversity, Ferns, Plants | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Te Radar’s vegetable with charisma

22 June 2012 – 9.13am

Which vegetables do you think have charisma? 

In Tuesday night’s television programme Radar Across The Pacific, comedian Te Radar was given “fiddle fern” to eat.  He seemed to be impressed by it, describing it as having charisma.

TV One’s Radar Across The Pacific.

Te Radar was eating the young, unfurling fronds of a fern.  These still-coiled fronds are variously called croziers or fiddleheads or, in New Zealand, koru.  Fern fiddleheads are a common vegetable in some parts of the world.

Ota dina, Diplazium dietrichianum (or D. esculentum), Fiji. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

I couldn’t tell for sure but there’s a good chance that the fern Te Radar was eating was Diplazium dietrichianum, ota dina (or Diplazium esculentum).  The similar Diplazium ecsculentum is commonly eaten in Asia.  The second part of its scientific name, “esculentum“, means edible.  The related Diplazium proliferum, ota lalabe, is also eaten in Fiji and elsewhere.

During our 2011 field work in Fiji, we saw Diplazium fiddleheads being harvested for sale at the Suva market.

Blog post about our 2011 fern collecting in Fiji.

Ota lalabe, Diplazium proliferum, Fiji. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

A New Zealand equivalent comes from the hen & chickens fern (manamana or mouku, Asplenium bulbiferum).  Its fiddleheads are known as pikopiko.  The popularity of pikopiko as a vegetable seems to be reviving, and it is commercially available.

Pikopiko, or the young, uncurling frond (koru) of hen & chickens fern (Asplenium bulbiferum, manamana, mouku), Wellington, New Zealand. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

More on hen and chickens ferns from Te Papa’s Collections Online.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Biodiversity, Ferns, Plants | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (1)

NZ fern colonises Australia, twice

4 February 2011 – 10.38am
Asplenium hookerianum

Hooker's spleenwort fern. Near Levin, New Zealand. (c) Leon Perrie.

It is not just people crossing the ditch – a little New Zealand fern has also emigrated to Australia, and not just once but twice.

This is the first known case amongst ferns or seed plants of the same species dispersing twice across the Tasman Sea.

Hooker’s spleenwort fern, or Asplenium hookerianum, is a close relative of the hen & chickens ferns. Hooker’s spleenwort is widespread and common in New Zealand, but rare in Australia, with only a few, small populations in each of Victoria and Tasmania.

DNA analyses of the populations of Hooker’s spleenwort were carried out by researchers from Te Papa, Massey University, and the University of Melbourne.

26 genetic variants were found in New Zealand, but only one each in Victoria and Tasmania. Not only are the Australian variants at the tips of the genetic family tree, they are more closely related to variants in New Zealand than to each other.

This research was recently published in the journal Australian Systematic Botany.  Email me if you would like a copy of the paper: leonp@tepapa.govt.nz

Many plant species are known to have dispersed across the Tasman Sea, in either direction. Numerous New Zealand species also occur in Australia (about 50% in ferns), and more have close relatives there. But, it remains an open question how common multiple dispersals within a species are.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Ferns, Plants | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (3)

Queensland attractions

16 September 2010 – 11.58am

Despite my previous post, Queensland’s rainforests were far from entirely unpleasant.  The below caught me eye (and of course there were lots of interesting ferns too!).

Heavily pigmented unfurling frond of Blechnum cartilagineum. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

A lacy fungus. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

New Zealanders are pretty familiar with the koru, an unfurling fern frond. But Australia’s prickly tree fern, Cyathea leichhardtiana, does it a bit differently. It unfurls the leafy parts of a frond only after the “stem” parts of the frond (technically the rachis and the costae) are nearly fully extended. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Inflorescence of the root parasite Balanophora. This is related to New Zealand’s bat-pollinated Dactylanthus. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

The attractive cycad Bowenia spectabilis. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

An unfurling frond of the Ptisana (Marattia) oreades, a relative of para, New Zealand’s king fern. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

New Zealand’s king fern.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Ferns, Field trips, Plants | Also tagged , | Comments (1)

Queensland fern fieldwork

14 September 2010 – 6.53pm

I was recently in Queensland, Australia, working with colleagues from the University of Melbourne to collect ferns for DNA analyses.

We were principally after the spleenwort Asplenium ferns, and drove large distances in pursuit of the different species.

Asplenium carnarvonense is known only from a few gorges in inland southern Queensland. The gorges provide respite for ferns and other moisture-loving plants in what is otherwise an arid landscape. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Asplenium harmanii is a birds nest fern, related to the common cultivated A. australasicum. A. harmanii is distinguished by the tapering of its lower frond, and it is only found near the Queensland/NSW border. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Asplenium athertonense occurs in rainforest on the uplands inland of Cairns. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

27 of Australia’s 30 species of Asplenium occur in Queensland, which has a rich fern diversity. New Zealand has about 20 Asplenium species, with eight species shared across the Tasman. DNA sequencing will be used to determine how the Australian plants relate to those from New Zealand and elsewhere.

Te Papa’s fern research.

Asplenium ferns.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Ferns, Field trips, Plants | Also tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Big travels for little ferns

22 July 2010 – 11.46am

Lindsaea are small dainty ferns that are easily overlooked. Three species are indigenous to New Zealand.

Recent DNA-based research (Lehtonen et al. 2010) implies that each got here independently; i.e., there were three separate dispersal events. This is because the three species in New Zealand are each more closely related to an overseas species than to each other.

The three indigenous New Zealand species are:

Lindsaea trichomanoides (also in Australia) is related to L. rufa of New Caledonia.

Lindsaea trichomanoides. (c) Leon Perrie.

Lindsaea viridis (only found in New Zealand) is related to a group of species occurring from Madagascar through Malesia to western Polynesia.

Lindsaea viridis. (c) Leon Perrie.

Lindsaea linearis (also in Australia and New Caledonia) is related to L. microphylla of Australia.

Lindsaea linearis. (c) Leon Perrie

This is a common pattern. Many New Zealand ferns are also indigenous elsewhere. Of the species only found in New Zealand, many are more closely related to overseas species than to other New Zealanders. This indicates a comparatively high level of immigration and emigration.

Lehtonen S, Tuomisto H, Rouhan G, Christenhusz MJM (2010) Phylogenetics and classification of the pantropical fern family Lindsaeaceae. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 163: 305-359.

More on the origins of New Zealand’s ferns.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Ferns, Plants | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Identifying Asplenium hookerianum in Victoria

10 March 2010 – 2.28pm

From our search in Victoria’s Alpine National Park, we suspect the rare Asplenium hookerianum (Hooker’s spleenwort) is actually much more common there than previously recognised. But more searching is needed to confirm this. 

Searching for Asplenium hookerianum in Victoria’s Alpine National Park. 

Asplenium hookerianum can be distinguished from the other ferns it occurs with in Victoria by its being fertile at a small size (c. 5 cm), with linear reproductive structures, and fronds that are twice divided with rounded frond segments. 

Small plants of Asplenium flabellifolium (necklace spleenwort) can resemble Asplenium hookerianum. However, the latter has bi-pinnate (twice divided) fronds, discernible at the base of even small fronds. 

A small frond of Asplenium hookerianum (Hooker’s spleenwort), Alpine National Park, Victoria. Photo by Leon Perrie, Curator. © Museum of New Zealand.

Asplenium flabellifolium (necklace spleenwort), Armidale, NSW, Australia. Photo by Leon Perrie, Curator. © Museum of New Zealand.

Asplenium hookerianum (left top and middle) and Asplenium flabellifolium, Alpine National Park, Victoria. Photo by Leon Perrie, Curator. © Museum of New Zealand.

 Polystichum proliferum (mother shield fern) and Cystopteris tasmanica (bladder fern) have frond segments with pointed apices and round rather than linear reproductive structures. Further, Polystichum proliferum usually does not become fertile until a size bigger than Asplenium hookerianum. 

Polystichum proliferum (mother shield fern), Toolangi, Victoria. Photo by Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie, Wellington.

 Asplenium gracillimum (a hen & chickens fern) also usually does not become fertile until a size bigger than Asplenium hookerianum. The latter also differs in its frond segments being more stalked. 

Asplenium gracillimum (a hen & chickens fern), Alpine National Park, Victoria. Photo by Leon Perrie, Curator. © Museum of New Zealand.

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Ferns, Plants | Also tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Searching for a rare Australian fern

9 March 2010 – 5.08pm

While visiting family in Melbourne, I took the opportunity to go fern hunting.

Asplenium hookerianum (Hooker’s spleenwort), Alpine National Park, Victoria. Photo by Leon Perrie, Curator. © Museum of New Zealand.

Asplenium hookerianum is a rare fern in Australia.  With Melbourne University’s Daniel Ohlsen and Mike Bayly, we went searching for the two populations recorded from Victoria’s Alpine National Park. 

How to recognise Asplenium hookerianum in Victoria.

We were successful, relocating the known populations and finding a new one.  We recorded a total of 450-500 individuals, some 200 more than previously noted.

In Victoria, Asplenium hookerianum appears restricted to rock overhangs in deep gorges.  It was odd seeing it in Eucalyptus forest.  In New Zealand, Asplenium hookerianum is much less fussy, being common on the forest floor. 

Lara, pointing to Asplenium hookerianum on this rock wall, and Daniel. Alpine National Park, Victoria. Photo by Leon Perrie, Curator. © Museum of New Zealand.

Asplenium hookerianum habitat (at the bottom of this gorge), Alpine National Park, Victoria. Photo by Leon Perrie, Curator. © Museum of New Zealand.

We wonder whether the Australian populations are derived from New Zealand, or vice versa.  We hope to test this using DNA analyses.

Findings from our previous investigations of New Zealand Asplenium hookerianum:

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Ferns, Field trips, Plants | Also tagged , , , | Comments (5)
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