1. Cyathea
A New Zealand Tree Fern

2. Biodiversity and Radiation of a New Zealand Tree Fern (Cyathea):
Species phylogeny for Cyathea?
Pattern and timing of species diversification?
Impact of habitat in driving morphological and ecological diversity of Cyathea in New Zealand?
Differences in species radiation of Cyathea in New Zealand (an Island archipelago) and respective South Pacific Island habitats and evolutionary importance of habitat on biodiversity & radiation?
Land Environments of New Zealand (LENZ)
ALLAN WILSON CENTRE for Molecular Ecology and Evolution
RSNZ: Home
Develop learning modules to develop and strengthen problem solving skills of New Zealand students, relevant and interesting to students, written from a New Zealand context & perspective.

3. Cyatheaceae A family of 500-600 species of tree ferns.
Wet, montane tropical forests around the world.
Unusual: High Species Diversity, yet near uniform chromosome number, n=69[Contant(1994).
Fertile diploid hybrids.
At least THREE different systems of classification:
1. Tyron and Tyron(1982),
2. Holttum and Edwards(1983)
3. Lellinger*(1987).
*Supported by Brownsey(2000).

4. Cyatheaceae Classification
Note: Taxonomically, New Zealand species are reasonably easy to identify,
Tryon and Tryon (1982)
Alsophila
Nephelea
Cnemidaria
Cyathea
Trichipteris
Sphaeropteris
subgenus Sphaeropteris
subgenus Sclephropteris
Holttum and Edwards (1983)
Cyathea
subgenus Cyathea
section Alsophila
sub sect. Alsophila
sub sect. Nephelea
section Cyathea
subgenus Sphaeropteris
Lellinger (1987)
Alsophila
Cnemidaria
Cyathea
Sphaeropteris
Data from a study of cpDNA completed by Conant(1994) shows strong support for 3 evolutionary lineages: Alsophila clade, Cyathea clade and Sphaeropteris clade, Alsophila being most basal and Cyathea and Sphaeropteris are derived sister groups. cpDNA Data are most consistent with Lellinger’s classification.

5. Classification Sori and indusial characteristics Habitat Stipe
(shows geographical distribution of A. colensoi)
Stipe
Frond Forms

6. Various Cyatheaceae Distributions
c. colensoi
c. smithii
c. cunginghamii
c. medullaris
c. dealbata

7. Fern Life Cycle Mature Tree Ferns
Sori on under-side of Cyathea medullaris
Young Sporophyte emerging from gametophyte
The young gametophyte is a rarely seen plant (1-2 mm) that is a completely independent plant in the life cycle.
Gametophyte

8. Fern Morphology (Anatomy)
Each spore-case under the leaf(pinna) is called a sorus. Each sorus contains many sporangia. Each sporangium produce a varying number of spores.
The spore-cases look different for various species of Fern, and can be used to identify them.
This spore-case may be covered by a flap, called an indusium.
The Tree-Fern fiddlehead gives rise to a new Frond (leaf). ‘
The young fiddlehead and it’s stalk (stipe) are often covered with hair and/or scales.

9. Classifying Ferns (A Dichotomous Tree)
To use this Key to identify Ferns, Start at the BOTTOM of the Key and follow the arrows.
Go to Page (10)
Go to Page (10)
Does it have fronds that are divided once?
Does it have fronds that are divided more than once -(NOT a tree-fern)?
Does it Have simple, single/unlobed fronds (leaves)?
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Go to Page (13)
Does it look like a tree ?
Does it have see-through fronds?
Go to Page (10)
START HERE

10. Morphological Classification Key
Start at the BOTTOM
Dicksonia squarrosa
Slender trunk with black pegs of remaining dead fronds. (Sometimes branches)
Dicksonia fibrosa
Very thick and soft brown trunk.
Are the Frond (leaf) stalks black?
YES
YES
Are the Fronds in the “Skirt” whole?
Cyathea dealbata
Underside of leaves silver/white.
Cyathea smithii
- Skirt made of frond stalks only.
Very soft and pale fronds, horizontal like parasol. NO
YES
Is the “Skirt” Tidy? NO
YES
Does it have a “Prickly” Trunk? NO NO
Cyathea medullaris
Scars on trunk oval or hexagonal in shape. NO
YES
Cyathea medullaris
(Young)
Very uneven skirt of black frond stalks.
Thick frond stalks.
Does it have a “Skirt” of dead fronds in this area?
Go Back to Page 5
YES NO
Start HERE
Is it a Tree Fern?
To complete a Phylogenetic Analysis of Nucleotide Sequences,
go to:The Phylogenetic Tree Constructor

11. Cyathea vs. Dicksonia
Cyathea dealbata vs.
Dicksonia sqarrosa
Height: Up to 10m
Fronds: Up to 4m
Distinguishing characters:
White peg-like frond bases on trunk
White stalks (stipe) and under fronds.
Location:
North Island, East of South Island
Dry Forest or open scrub
Height: Up to 7m
Fronds: Up to 3m
Distinguishing characters:
Black peg-like frond bases on trunk
Black stalks, may have branches.
Location:
North Island and South Island, common in most Forest
Cyathea smithii… vs.
Dicksonia fibrosa.
Height: Up to 8m
Fronds: Up to 2.5m
Distinguishing characters:
Fronds are soft, pale, horizontal.
Short skirt of dried stalks (not Frond)
Location:
More common in South Island at high altitudes as they like it cold and wet.
Height: Up to 6m
Fronds: Up to 3m (HARSH)
Distinguishing characters:
Trunk is thick, soft and brown.
Skirt of entire dead fronds.
Location:
North Island and South Island Forrest, semi-open scrub

12. ? Cyathea the others Cyathea medullaris (Young)
Cyathea medullaris (Mature)
Height: Up to 20m
Fronds: Up to 5m
Distinguishing characters:
Young ferns will often have untidy skirt of a few dead fronds.
Height: Up to 20m
Fronds: Up to 5m
Distinguishing characters:
Thick Black stalks, Oval/Hexagonal scars left where fronds are lost.
Location:
North Island and South Island, common in most damp valley forests.
Cyathea colensoi
Cyathea cunninghamii (Similar to C. medullaris)
Height: Up to 1m (a creeping Fern, may have horizontal fronds along ground)
Fronds: Up to 1.5m
Distinguishing characters:
Very slender, pale brown stalks
Location:
North and South Island in mountain forests. Favours damp areas/treeline.
Height: Up to 20m
Fronds: Up to 3m
Distinguishing characters:
Fronds are soft, pale, horizontal.
Ragged skirt on young plants, rough stalks/dark brown and appressed.
Location:
Wet coasts (North and West). ?

13. Glossary of Terms Dichotomous
To branch into two. A dichotomous keys asks a question about a plant, and there are two possible answers.
Endemic
A plant is endemic if it exists only in one geographical region/island. The silver fern (Cyathea dealbata) grows in New Zealand and is not found anywhere else in the world, and is therefore, endemic to New Zealand.
Fronds
The leaves of a Fern.
Gametophyte
A VERY tiny, green, heart shaped plant that is produced from Fern spores in the Fern Life Cycle.
The gametophyte produces egg and sperm which ‘merge’, and a new sporophyte (Fern plant) grows.
Indusium (indusia, pl)
In some Ferns, it protects sporangia by covering them. The indusium looks different on various Fern species.
Morphology
Physical Characteristics of a plant. What a plant looks like, and it’s form (including the internal structure).
Phloem
Tube in a vascular plant that carries nutrients.
Rhizome
The trunk of the Tree-Fern. (Found along the ground in the Creeping Tree-Fern)
Species
An individual group of plants that has been ‘produced’ from parents of the same species. If all the plants in a species die, it cannot be reproduced by any means, and is therefore extinct.
Sorus (Sori, pl)
A group of sporangia found under the leaves of a fern, sometimes covered by an indusium.
Sporangium (sporangia, pl)
The part of a Fern plant under the leaves that produce and hold spores before they are released.
Spore
Fern ‘seeds’. Spores are produced under the leaves (pinnae) and dropped when they are mature. If they land in a favorable location, they become a gametophyte (see Fern Life Cycle), which produces egg and sperm.
Sporophyte
The Fern Plant we see. In a Fern Life Cycle it produces the spores.
Stipe
The ‘stalk’ of a Fern that connects the trunk (rhizome) to the leaf(frond). See Fern Morphology (Anatomy)
Vascular plant
Any plant that makes use of tubes to transport water, nutrients or other materials through the plant.
Xylem
Tube in a vascular plant that carries water.

14. Exit Thank you for using New Zealand Ferns, and I would like to thank:
1. Royal Society of New Zealand.
2. Allan Wilson Centre, Massey University.
3. Associate Professor Peter Lockhart,
Recourses:
“New Zealand Ferns and Allied Plants”, Patrick J. Brownsey and John C. Smith Dodsworth, David Bateman, pp83-89.
“Native Trees of New Zealand 2”, J.T. Salmon, Reed Publishing NZ Ltd., 2003.
“Which Native Tree", Andrew Crowe, Penguin Books NZ Ltd., 2001.
“New Zealand Trees – Ferns”, Alina Arkins, Reed Publishing NZ Ltd., 2003.
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