Species
Schizaea australis
Etymology
australis: southern
Common Name(s)
southern comb 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
Authority
Schizaea australis Gaudich.
Family
Schizaeaceae
Flora Category
Vascular - Native
SCHAUS
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
Schizaea fistulosa var. australis (Gaudich.) Hook. f.
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand: North, South, Stewart, Chatham, Auckland and Campbell Islands. Also South American and Falkland Islands. From Te Moehau south but scarce north of the Volcanic Plateau. In the South Island primarily found west of the main divide.
Habitat
In peat bogs, pakihi, fell field, cushion bogs and in poorly drained tussock grassland or in marginal turf communities fringing lakes, tarns and ephemeral pools in forested and open areas.
Features
Tufted terrestrial fern. Rhizomes short-creeping, slender,, hairy. Frond glabrous, reed-like, undivided, green or pale brown. Stipe 20-150 mm long, 0.25-0.5 mm diameter, erect, wiry, smooth. Laminae at stipe apices, pinnate, 4-15 mm long, pinnae fertile in 4-8 pairs, 1-4 mm long, infolded. Sporangia in one row either side of midrib.
Similar Taxa
Allied to Schizaea fistulosa (and still regarded by some as a reduced state of that species) from which it differs by its usually smaller size (stipe 20-150 mm cf. 100-500 mm long in S. fistulosa), smaller fertile laminae (4-15 mm cf. 7-30 mm in S. fistulosa), slightly smaller pinnae (1-4 mm cf. 1-5 mm long in S. fistulosa), ecological preference for montane and subantarctic habitats, and perhaps most convincingly by its different chromosome number (2n = 188 cf. 2n= 388, 540 in S. fistulosa). Nevertheless further study into the variation (including cytological) in both species is needed to clarify the status of S. australis.
Flowering
N.A.
Flower Colours
No Flowers
Fruiting
N.A.
Propagation Technique
Difficult - should not be removed from the wild
Threats
Not Threatened
Chromosome No.
2n = 188
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 10 March 2011. Description modified from Brownsey & Smith-Dodsworth 2000.
References and further reading
Brownsey, P.J.; Smith-Dodsworth, J.C. 2000: New Zealand Ferns and Allied Plants. Auckland, David Bateman
This page last updated on 11 Aug 2014