Flora of New Zealand

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The kauri is the largest New Zealand tree, growing mainly in the northernmost parts of the country. Kauri Te Matua Ngahere.jpg
The kauri is the largest New Zealand tree, growing mainly in the northernmost parts of the country.

This article relates to the flora of New Zealand, especially indigenous strains. New Zealand's geographical isolation has meant the country has developed a unique variety of native flora. However, human migration has led to the importation of many other plants (generally referred to as 'exotics' in New Zealand) as well as widespread damage to the indigenous flora, especially after the advent of European colonisation, due to the combined efforts of farmers and specialised societies dedicated to importing European plants & animals.

Contents

Characteristics

Indigenous New Zealand flora generally has the following characteristics: [1]

List of plants

Trees and shrubs

Ferns

While most of the world's ferns grow in tropical climates, New Zealand hosts an unusual number of ferns for a temperate country. These exhibit a variety of forms, from stereotypical feather-shaped tufted ferns and tree ferns to less typical filmy, leafy and climbing ferns. Both the koru, in the shape of an unfurling fern frond, and the silver fern are widely accepted symbols of New Zealand.

New Zealand has ten species of tree ferns, [2] but there are numerous ground, climbing and perching smaller ferns to be found throughout the countries forests, the largest of which is the king fern. [3]

A black tree fern in the Auckland Domain Cyathea medullaris.JPG
A black tree fern in the Auckland Domain

Seaweeds

New Zealand is impacted by a diversity of sea water systems including the ocean fronts the Tasman Front, the Subantartic Front, and the Subtropical Front. These each have different properties have a significant influence on the seaweed flora of the long coastlines of New Zealand. There are around 900 species of seaweed that occur in the New Zealand region but it's likely that there are species that have yet to be formally described or discovered. [4] A commonly found seaweed is Neptune's necklace.

The red seaweeds belong to the following family and genera:

Liverworts

New Zealand has a greater density of liverworts than any other country, due to its cool, wet and temperate climate. About half the species are endemic to New Zealand.

There are 606 species known in New Zealand. While these include some thallose liverworts, with liver-shaped thalli, most are leafy liverworts which can be confused with mosses and filmy ferns. Undescribed species, and those not previously recorded in New Zealand, continue to be found in lowland forests. Ninety species and varieties are listed on the 2001 Department of Conservation threatened plants list, and 157 liverwort species and varieties will be included on the next version of the list as a result of better knowledge of the group.

A three-volume work on liverworts in New Zealand is being written by John Engel and David Glenny, with the first volume published in 2008. [5] The first volume will also be placed online in June 2009 as part of Floraseries. [6]

Grasses

There are 187 species of native grasses in New Zealand: 157 endemic and 30 indigenous species. [7]

The grasses belong to the following tribes and genera:

Mosses

There are 523 known moss species and 23 varieties in New Zealand, with 208 genera represented. 108 species and 11 genera are considered endemic. Most New Zealand mosses originated in Gondwana, so there are strong relationships with species in Tasmania, South-eastern Australia, and temperate parts of South America. [8] The endemic genera are:

Sphagnum moss is also of economic importance.

Other

Flowers of Tecomanthe speciosa Tecomanthe flowers.jpg
Flowers of Tecomanthe speciosa

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Dacrydium cupressinum</i> Species of evergreen tree

Dacrydium cupressinum, commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antarctic flora</span> Distinct community of plants which evolved on the supercontinent of Gondwana

Antarctic flora are a distinct community of vascular plants which evolved millions of years ago on the supercontinent of Gondwana. Presently, species of Antarctica flora reside on several now separated areas of the Southern Hemisphere, including southern South America, southernmost Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and New Caledonia. Joseph Dalton Hooker was the first to notice similarities in the flora and speculated that Antarctica had served as either a source or a transitional point, and that land masses now separated might formerly have been adjacent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Caledonia rain forests</span>

The New Caledonia rain forests are a terrestrial ecoregion, located in New Caledonia in the South Pacific. It is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion, part of the Australasian realm.

<i>Dicksonia squarrosa</i> Species of fern

Dicksonia squarrosa, the New Zealand tree fern, whekī or rough tree fern, is a common tree fern endemic to New Zealand. It has a slender black trunk that is usually surrounded by many dead brown fronds.

<i>Gymnosphaera capensis</i> Species of fern

Gymnosphaera capensis, synonyms Alsophila capensis and Cyathea capensis, is a regionally widespread and highly variable species of tree fern. It is indigenous to Southern Africa and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flora of Scotland</span> Plants native to Scotland

The flora of Scotland is an assemblage of native plant species including over 1,600 vascular plants, more than 1,500 lichens and nearly 1,000 bryophytes. The total number of vascular species is low by world standards but lichens and bryophytes are abundant and the latter form a population of global importance. Various populations of rare fern exist, although the impact of 19th-century collectors threatened the existence of several species. The flora is generally typical of the north-west European part of the Palearctic realm and prominent features of the Scottish flora include boreal Caledonian forest, heather moorland and coastal machair. In addition to the native species of vascular plants there are numerous non-native introductions, now believed to make up some 43% of the species in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flora of Australia</span> Plant species of Australia

The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 21,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwana, and below the family level has a highly endemic angiosperm flora whose diversity was shaped by the effects of continental drift and climate change since the Cretaceous. Prominent features of the Australian flora are adaptations to aridity and fire which include scleromorphy and serotiny. These adaptations are common in species from the large and well-known families Proteaceae (Banksia), Myrtaceae, and Fabaceae.

<i>Tmesipteris tannensis</i> Species of fern

Tmesipteris tannensis is a fern ally endemic to New Zealand. It is usually epiphytic on trees and tree ferns, but is occasionally terrestrial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plant community</span> Collection of native photosynthetic organisms

A plant community is a collection or association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The components of each plant community are influenced by soil type, topography, climate and human disturbance. In many cases there are several soil types present within a given plant community. This is because the soil type within an area is influenced by two factors, the rate at which water infiltrates or exits the soil, as well as the rate at which organic matter enters or decays from the soil. Plant communities are studied substantially by ecologists, due to providing information on the effects of dispersal, tolerance to environmental conditions, and response to disturbance of a variety of plant species, information valuable to the comprehension of various plant community dynamics.

Victoria, Australia contains approximately 32,000 hectares of temperate rainforest in various regions, which represents 0.14% of the State's total area. The areas with rainforest include: East Gippsland, Strzelecki Ranges, Wilsons Promontory, Central Highlands, and Otway Ranges. The rainforests vary between cool temperate, warm temperate, and mixed cool temperate.

<i>Ischalis variabilis</i> Species of moth

Ischalis variabilis, also known as oblique-waved fern looper, is a species of moth in the family Geometridae first described by William Warren in 1895. It is endemic to New Zealand, where it is widespread in the North and South islands.

<i>Dicksonia fibrosa</i> Species of fern

Dicksonia fibrosa, the golden tree fern, whekī-ponga, wheki-kōnga, or kurīpākā is a species of medium-sized tree fern native to New Zealand.

<i>Ctenopseustis filicis</i> Species of moth

Ctenopseustis filicis, also known as ginger ponga leaf-tyer, is a species of moth of the family Tortricidae. It is endemic to New Zealand and is found in the South and Stewart Islands.

Tasmania is home to 'Australia’s largest cool temperate rainforests. Most of Tasmania’s rainforests occur in the North-West and throughout the North East highlands. Cool temperate rainforests typically have a heavy rainfall, cool climate, favor high altitudes and have a limited availability of light.

<i>Asplenium appendiculatum</i> Species of fern

Asplenium appendiculatum, ground spleenwort, is a common native fern to Australia and New Zealand. It usually grows in cool damp conditions, among rocks, on logs or as an epiphyte.

<i>Peraxilla colensoi</i> Species of mistletoe

Peraxilla colensoi, the scarlet mistletoe, is a shrubby parasitic plant composed of broad, leathery leaves that grow up to 8 cm long and have a red edge. The common name is derived from the scarlet petals of the plant that bloom every October to January. These mistletoes are parasitic plants whose seeds attach themselves to host plants. The most common host for these plants is the silver beech. The plant can grow up to 3 meters tall and are often located in low altitudes throughout the North and South Islands of New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roaring Billy Falls</span> Waterfall in Haast Pass, New Zealand

Roaring Billy Falls is a waterfall in Mount Aspiring National Park, Westland District, New Zealand. It is located in the Haast River valley, around 30 km (19 mi) inland from Haast, near Eighteen Mile Bluff on State Highway 6. The falls are a 30-metre-high (98 ft) cascade on The Roaring Billy stream. The bottom of the cascade is at an elevation of around 80 metres (262 ft) where it flows into the Haast River.

References

  1. "NZ Native Plants - Bushmansfriend".
  2. "Number of Tree Ferns Reference".
  3. "King Fern largest ground fern. p. 19" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  4. Wendy Nelson (2013), New Zealand Seaweeds: An Illustrated Guide, Wikidata   Q59539332
  5. Engel, J. J. and Glenny, D. 2008 A flora of the liverworts and hornworts of New Zealand. Monographs in systematic botany volume 110, Missouri Botanic Gardens Press, Missouri.
  6. David Glenny, New Zealand's liverworts, no longer a forgotten group, Te Taiao, Number 6, July 2006, ISSN 1176-2454
  7. H. E. Connor and E. Edgar. "History of the taxonomy of the New Zealand native grass flora" . Retrieved 20 August 2006.
  8. Landcare Research. "Characteristics of the Indigenous Moss Flora". Archived from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2006.