Angiopteris evecta

Angiopteris evecta, commonly known as the giant fern, is a rare plant occurring in eastern and northern Australia and the Malay Peninsula. Also found growing in nearby islands such as Borneo, Sumatra, New Guinea and various places in Polynesia, Melanesia and Madagascar.[1] Listed as endangered in New South Wales, where it has been recorded growing in sub tropical rainforest, in the valley of the Tweed River.[2] It is an invasive species in Hawaii and Jamaica.

Giant fern

Conservation Dependent  (EPBC Act)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Marattiales
Family: Marattiaceae
Genus: Angiopteris
Species:
A. evecta
Binomial name
Angiopteris evecta
Synonyms

Angiopteris evecta is the type species of the genus Angiopteris. It was originally described as Polypodium evectum by Georg Forster in 1786,[3] before being reclassified and given its current binomial name in 1796 by Georg Franz Hoffmann.[4] The species name is the Latin adjective evectus "swollen" or "inflated",[5] probably a reference to its huge, bulbous pulvini. Common names include giant fern, king fern, oriental vessel fern, and mule's foot fern. In the Malay speaking nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Timor Leste) it is called paku gajah (elephant fern).

The huge mature fronds measure up to 9 metres (30 feet) long. These largest ones are apparently found in Queensland where the lamina or blade can be up to 23 feet (7.0 meters) in length with the petiole or stalk being an additional 6 ft 6 in (1.98 meters) long.[6] 29 ft 6 in (8.99 meters) fronds have also been reported for the variety A. e. teysmanniana in Java. The succulent petioles, again in Queensland, can be up to four in (10 cm) thick,[7] and in the variety A e. microura of the Solomon Islands the petiole can be up to 8 ft 9 in (2.67 meters) in length,[8] joined to the trunk or caudex by a pulvinus which can be up to 8 inches (20 cm) thick[9] that serves to raise and lower the frond in response to weather conditions. This is the largest pulvinus of any known plant. At the base of each frond, surrounding the pulvinus like two catcher's mits, is a pair of fleshy stipules. A plant of the variety A. e palmiformis, native to the Philippines but growing at the Lyon Arboretum, Oahu, Hawai'i in June 1987 had stipules up to 9.25 inches (23.5 cm) long by 5.75 inches (14.6 cm) wide.[10] These are the largest stipules of any known plant. The fronds originate from a large thick rootstock, or caudex typically up to 150 cm (59 in) high, but occasionally as much as ten feet (3.0 meters) in height.,[11] and up to 3.25 feet (one meter)[12][13] or perhaps even 6 ft 7 in (2.01 meters)[14] in thickness. An individual with 29 ft 6 in (8.99 meters) fronds emerging from a caudex 18 inches (46 cm) thick could potentially have a crown spread of 61 feet (19 meters), the greatest of any tree fern.

Angiopteris evecta can be grown in well-drained moist sites in the garden with some shade. It is very difficult to propagate by spores but the stipules from the frond base can be removed and will form a new plant in around a year in a medium of sand and peat.[5]

The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia records Indigenous Australians ate the pith of this tree fern.[15]

References
  1. "Angiopteris evecta". Global Invasive Species.
  2. "Angiopteris evecta". PlantNET - NSW Flora Online. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
  3. "Polypodium evectum G.Forst". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  4. "Angiopteris evecta (G.Forst.) Hoffm". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  5. Elliot, Rodger W.; Jones, David L.; Blake, Trevor (1985). Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable for Cultivation: Vol. 2. Port Melbourne: Lothian Press. p. 195. ISBN 0-85091-143-5.
  6. S.B. Andrews, FERNS OF QUEENSLAND, (Brisbane: Queensland Dept. of Primary Industries,1990) p. 16.
  7. Stanley and Kay Breeden, TROPICAL QUEENSLAND (Sydney: Wm. Collins, Ltd, 1970) photo and caption p. 94.
  8. E.B. Copeland, "Solomon Island Ferns", PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF SCIENCE Vol. 60 #2 (June 1936) p. 101.
  9. William A. Setchell, "American Samoa"(Washington D.C.: Carnegie Institute pub #341 (June 1924)) p. 121.
  10. Measured by this writer June 26, 1987 at Lyon Arboretum, Upper Manoa Valley, Oahu, Hawai'i
  11. Mark F. Large and John E. Braggins, TREE FERNS (Portland: Timber Press, 2004)
  12. D.L. Jones and S.C. Clemsha, AUSTRALIAN FERNS AND FERN ALLIES (Sydney: A.H. & A.W. Reed Pty. Ltd., 1981) p. 76.
  13. Prof. Douglas H. Campbell, THE STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF MOSSES AND FERNS (London: MacMillan and Co., 1895) p. 254.
  14. ! KING FERN ! at http://rainforest-australia.com/King%20fern.htm Archived 2016-10-25 at the Wayback Machine
  15. J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia : Including Tasmania. Turner and Henderson, Sydney.
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