Category Archives: Ferns

Know the native flora in Tawa reserves – Kōwaowao, pāraharaha, hound’s tongue, Microsorium pustulatum(from Gil Roper’s writings)

Kōwaowao, Microsorium pustulatum spreads over the ground using creeping horizontal stems (rhizomes) from which erect fronds grow out and extend upwards. The glossy, lime green, leathery fronds will often be on tree trunks when the rhizomes have extended their growth upwards from the ground to form an epiphyte on the tree. At maturity, the undersidesContinue reading “Know the native flora in Tawa reserves – Kōwaowao, pāraharaha, hound’s tongue, Microsorium pustulatum(from Gil Roper’s writings)”

Know the native flora in Tawa reserves – Mokimoki, fragrant fern, Microsorium fragrans (from Gil Roper’s writings)

Source of names: The genus Micro is from the Greek mikrós meaning ‘small’, while sorium refers to the ‘sori’ that appear as raised brown, powdery mounds on the underside of mature fronds. Sori produce clusters of sporangia and when mature, as they dry out, the sporangia fling out an abundance of spores for reproduction. TheContinue reading “Know the native flora in Tawa reserves – Mokimoki, fragrant fern, Microsorium fragrans (from Gil Roper’s writings)”