| Todea papuana | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Division: | Polypodiophyta |
| Class: | Polypodiopsida |
| Order: | Osmundales |
| Family: | Osmundaceae |
| Genus: | Todea |
| Species: | T. papuana |
| Binomial name | |
| Todea papuana Hennipman | |
Todea papuana, the Papuan king fern [1] is a species of fern known only from Papua-New Guinea. It is a rather large species up to 2 m (7 feet) tall, with sporangia borne on the leaves. [2]
The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Most tree ferns are members of the "core tree ferns", belonging to the families Cyatheaceae, Dicksoniaceae, Metaxyaceae, and Cibotiaceae in the order Cyatheales. It is estimated that Cyatheales originated in the early Jurassic, and is the third group of ferns known to have given rise to tree-like forms. The others are the extinct Tempskya of uncertain position, and Osmundales where the extinct Guaireaceae and some members of Osmundaceae also grew into trees. In addition there was the Psaroniaceae and Tietea in the Marattiales, which is the sister group to true ferns.
A fern is a member of a group of vascular plants that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except the lycopods, and differ from mosses and other bryophytes by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissues that conduct water and nutrients and in having life cycles in which the branched sporophyte is the dominant phase. Ferns have complex leaves called megaphylls, that are more complex than the microphylls of clubmosses. Most ferns are leptosporangiate ferns. They produce coiled fiddleheads that uncoil and expand into fronds. The group includes about 10,560 known extant species. Ferns are defined here in the broad sense, being all of the Polypodiopsida, comprising both the leptosporangiate (Polypodiidae) and eusporangiate ferns, the latter group including horsetails, whisk ferns, marattioid ferns, and ophioglossoid ferns.
Dicksoniaceae is a group of tropical, subtropical and warm temperate ferns, treated as a family in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, and counting 30-40 species. Alternatively, the family may be sunk into a very broadly defined family Cyatheaceae sensu lato as the subfamily Dicksonioideae. Most of the genera in the family are terrestrial ferns or have very short trunks compared to tree ferns of the family Cyatheaceae sensu stricto. However, some of the larger species can reach several metres in height. A number of others are epiphytes. They are found mostly in tropical regions in the Southern Hemisphere, as far south as southern New Zealand. Larger tree ferns in the genus Cibotium were formerly included in Dicksoniaceae, but are now segregated as the family Cibotiaceae.
Mount Giluwe is the second highest mountain in Papua New Guinea at 4,367 metres (14,327 ft), and the fifth highest peak on the island of New Guinea. It is located in the Southern Highlands province and is an old shield volcano with vast alpine grasslands. Ancient volcanic plugs form its two summits, with the central peak the highest and an east peak about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away at 4,300 m (14,108 ft). Giluwe has the distinction of being the highest volcano on the Australian continent and Oceania, and is thus one of the Volcanic Seven Summits.
The chestnut dunnart is a dunnart that was described by Van Dyck in 1986 and is named because of its chestnut colour in the upperparts of its body. The length from snout to tail is 167–210 mm, of which head to anus is 85–105 mm and tail is 82–105 mm long. The hind foot size is 17–20 mm, ear length is 17–21 mm and weight is 15–20 g.
The Raggiana bird-of-paradise, also known as Count Raggi's bird-of-paradise, is a large bird in the bird-of-paradise family Paradisaeidae.
Alsophila coactilis, synonym Cyathea coactilis, is a rare species of tree fern known only from the southern highlands of Papua New Guinea, where it grows in alpine shrubland at an altitude of about 3000 m. The trunk is erect and 2–3 m tall. Fronds are bi- or tripinnate and usually 1–2 m long. Characteristically of this species, they occur in two whorls of about ten fronds each. The underside of the rachis is covered with small, pale scales. The stipe is covered with pale scales that have dark, narrow and fragile edges. Sori are round and are covered by thin indusia that are cup-like in appearance. They occur near the fertile pinnule midvein.
Cophixalus balbus is a species of frogs in the family Microhylidae. Molecular data suggest that it might belong to the genus Oreophryne. It is known from the vicinity of its type locality in Yapen island, Papua Province, Indonesia, as well as from the Hunstein Mountains and Bewani and Torricelli Mountains in Papua New Guinea.
The tenkile, also known as Scott's tree-kangaroo, is a species of tree-kangaroo in the family Macropodidae. It is endemic to a very small area of the Torricelli Mountains of Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by habitat loss and by hunting. The tenkile is listed as endangered due to hunting and logging activities in Papua New Guinea. The tenkile is hunted for its meat, and is the main protein source for the residents of Papua New Guinea. The population of Papua New Guinea has increased in recent years due to improvements in healthcare; therefore increasing need in tenkile meat which means that more tenkiles are being hunted. Additionally, tenkiles are poached for their fur and are captured and sold as a part of the illegal pet trade. Domesticated dogs also hunt tenkiles. Deforestation in Papua New Guinea affects all tree-kangaroos, however industrial logging that occurs in the Torricelli Mountain Range decreases the species' already restricted habitat. The Torricelli Mountain Range faces additional deforestation due to the timber industry, and the production of coffee, rice and wheat.
Calaby's pademelon, also known as the alpine wallaby, is a species of marsupial in the family Macropodidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea. It is threatened by habitat loss and hunting.
Lindsaeaceae is a pantropical family of ferns in the order Polypodiales. It contains six or seven genera with about 220 known species, some of which also extend into the more temperate regions of eastern Asia, New Zealand, and South America.
Norman Arthur Wakefield was an Australian teacher, naturalist, paleontologist and botanist, notable as an expert on ferns. He described many new species of plants.
The fern genus Todea is known from only two living species. Todea barbara L., known as the king fern, is native to South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia while Todea papuana H. is known only from Papua New Guinea. Species in the genus Todea, as Leptopteris, are distinct from other in Osmundaceae in that sporangia are born on laminar pinnules.
Vandenboschia speciosa, synonym Trichomanes speciosum, commonly known as the Killarney fern, is a species of fern found widely in Western Europe. It is most abundant in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Brittany, Galicia, Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores, but is also found in other locations including France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. It is a relict endemic European species with a disjunct distribution, having had a much wider distribution before the climate changes of the Tertiary and Quaternary periods.
New Guinea is the world's second-largest island with an area of 785,753 km2 (303,381 sq mi). Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the 150-kilometre wide Torres Strait, though both landmasses lie on the same continental shelf. Numerous smaller islands are located to the west and east. The eastern half of the island is the major land mass of the independent state of Papua New Guinea. The western half, known as Western New Guinea, forms a part of Indonesia and is organized as the provinces of Papua, Central Papua, Highland Papua, South Papua, and West Papua. The largest cities on the island are Jayapura and Port Moresby.
Rumohra adiantiformis, the leather fern or leatherleaf fern, is a species of fern in the wood fern family Dryopteridaceae. It has a wide distribution, mainly in the tropical Southern Hemisphere.
The Central Range sub-alpine grasslands is a montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion on the island of New Guinea. The ecoregion covers the highest-elevation portions of the New Guinea Highlands, which extend along the spine of the island. The high elevations support rare tropical sub-alpine and alpine habitats, including many endemic plants and animals.
Adiantum viridimontanum, commonly known as Green Mountain maidenhair fern, is a rare fern found only in outcrops of serpentine rock in New England and Eastern Canada. The leaf blade is cut into finger-like segments, themselves once-divided, which are borne on the outer side of a curved, dark, glossy rachis. These finger-like segments are not individual leaves, but parts of a single compound leaf. The "fingers" may be drooping or erect, depending on whether the individual fern grows in shade or sunlight. Spores are borne under false indusia at the edge of the subdivisions of the leaf, a characteristic unique to the genus Adiantum.
The Kaijende Highlands are a nearly uninhabited expanse of mountains near Porgera in Enga Province, Papua New Guinea. The highlands have been characterized as "some of Papua New Guinea's most pristine and scenic montane habitat". The Kaijende Highlands include Lake Tawa, Paiela Road, Omyaka Creek, Waile Creek and the Porgera Reservoir. The mountain range is 70 km north-west of Mount Hagen. According to a survey conducted in 2007, "areas like Kaijende are characterized by pronounced dominance of microtherm families, most notably by Cunoniaceae, Epacridaceae, Ericaceae, Geraniaceae, Myrsinaceae, Podocarpaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, Theaceae, Violaceae, and Winteraceae."
Coniopteris is an extinct genus of Mesozoic fern leaves with a fossil range from the Early Jurassic to the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. It was widespread over both hemispheres during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, with over 130 species having been described. While traditionally assumed to have been a member of Dicksoniaceae or a close relative of Thyrsopteris, a 2020 cladistic analysis found it to be a stem group of Polypodiales. Most species of Coniopteris probably had a herbaceous habit. The genus is technically a junior synonym of the little used Polystichites, but was conserved by the ICZN in 2013.
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