We've just put a draft photo guide to Aotearoa's filmy ferns onto Te Papa's website.

The 28 pages can be freely downloaded as a pdf from this link.

If you're already comfortable identifying filmy ferns, this still might be a useful resource to share with those who are learning, including on iNaturalist.

Also at that link above are draft photo guides for New Zealand's tree ferns, Blechnaceae, Lycopodiaceae, and Pteridaceae.

Feedback welcome.

I'm thinking I might next work on Dryopteridaceae and Aspleniaceae, but am open to requests.

[Tagging those with the most Hymenophyllaceae observations and identifications in New Zealand during the last year]
@brucedc, @johnb-nz, @h_rogers, @joedillon, @chrise, @hngamoki, @bevc, @lisa_bennett, @benjansss, @naturewatchwidow, @emily_r, @lcolmer, @reingered, @chrismorse, @dave_holland
@barbaraparris, @mark_smale, @david_lyttle, @lloyd_esler, @dhutch, @tramperjames, @john_barkla

Kia ora,
You might have noticed changes in iNaturalist to the scientific names of many of the species of Lycopodiaceae in New Zealand. (NZPCN has also adopted these changes.)
For what it is worth, I don't agree with these changes as it is against the principle of minimising taxonomic change while having a classification that recognises only monophyletic groups. The broader genera, as previously circumscribed, were monophyletic, so no change was needed, in my opinion. Maintaining the previous circumscriptions seems in the best interests of general users (and therefore best for the field of taxonomy).
However, others don't ascribe to the principle of minimising change, which is unfortunate for general users who are disrupted unnecessarily. I asked the person who made the changes in iNaturalist why they did it. If you'd like to know more, the conversation is here:
https://inaturalist.nz/taxon_changes/105434
Kind regards, Leon

Tagging the major observers and identifiers of Lycopodiaceae in New Zealand, in case you're interested:
@john_barkla, @brucedc, @naturewatchwidow, @rempson, @david_lyttle, @lloyd_esler, @mark_smale, @dave_holland, @johnvandenhoeven, @chrise, @bylsand, @johnb-nz, @peter_sweetapple, @meurkc, @rowan_hindmarsh_walls, @jacqui-nz, @fergus, @melissa_hutchison

A summary of our recent paper about the naturalisation in New Zealand of the Australian tree Lomatia fraseri is now available on Te Papa's blog:
https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2021/08/16/lomatia-fraseri-an-australian-tree-newly-weedy-in-new-zealand

I've got ready a draft of the tree fern section for the identification guide to New Zealand ferns that I'm working on. It is downloadable as a 9 MB pdf from my Google drive at this link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kGrmNx_-TrzHoi2agQ14ixY2cBnRT2TI/view?usp=sharing

Constructive feedback welcome 🙂

@johnb-nz, @dhutch, @kaipatiki_naturewatch, @jacqui-nz, @dave_holland

I’ve put together a guide to Aotearoa’s 12 species of Lycopodiaceae. This complements and is based on our recently published electronic Flora of New Zealand chapter for this family.

The guide is a prototype, and maybe a bit rough around the edges. But I hope it’ll still be useful. We’ve tried to focus on the distinguishing features in an accessible way (i.e., photos, limited jargon). No matter where you live in New Zealand, you’ll have some of these species near you.

The guide is available for free as a 12 MB pdf from my Google Drive.

Feedback is welcome. For instance:
• Would you like a similar guide for New Zealand's ferns?
• Is the jargon at an okay level?
• Is the pdf file useful (e.g., for printing)? Would you prefer a different format (e.g., webpage)?
• Even if this was available free online (for all of the common ferns and lycophytes), would you buy a professionally-produced book with the same content?

Suggestions for changes welcome.

Note – if you wondering "who/what are the Lycopodiaceae?", the guide answers that!

For those on facebook, I'm taking a close look during #lockdown at the New Zealand ferns I have growing at home. Some are the usual self-sown suspects, while others that I have in cultivation are maybe a bit more unusual.

I've started with three similar-looking spleenworts: Asplenium oblongifolium, A. obtusatum, and A. lepidotum. Next up will be Asplenium polyodon, and then I might have a look through what I have from the Pteridaceae, Polypodiaceae, and Blechnaceae (and return to more Asplenium later).

You can find more pictures and my tips for identification at www.facebook.com/nzferns

FernsAtHome

For those interested in small plants, here's a new species of liverwort. Cheilolejeunea rodneyi is named after the Wellington Botanical Society stalwart Rodney Lewington.
https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2020/01/13/a-new-liverwort-species-for-wellington/

Here are a few species of Australian ferns that have close relatives in New Zealand. Can you guess the NZ relation?
More examples on the New Zealand Ferns facebook page, along with answers!

https://www.facebook.com/nzferns/

I was fortunate to spend Christmas and New Year in Melbourne. Some 80-90 species of ferns and lycophytes occur naturally in both Australia and New Zealand. Below are a few examples of what we saw near Melbourne.
I have photos of many more such species on the New Zealand Ferns facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nzferns/

[From https://www.facebook.com/nzferns/]

New Zealand now has a second species of Phlegmariurus: Phlegmariurus billardierei. And it is an endemic - the only species of Lycopodiaceae that is found only in Aotearoa.

The spore-producing cones are the key to distinguishing the two Phlegmariurus species in New Zealand. In Phlegmariurus billardierei, the leaves immediately above the cones are appressed to the stems. In Phlegmariurus varius, the cones grade into spreading leaves.
In (A) is Phlegmariurus billardierei, with the spore-producing leaves of the cones at left, and appressed sterile leaves at right.

In (B) is Phlegmariurus varius, which always has at least some spreading spore-producing leaves (note the white discs - these are the sporangia). This means the cones seems less distinct than they are in P. billardierei.

Both species are widespread in New Zealand, and commonly grow together. Don't rely on overall form or habitat to tell them apart!

The name billardierei dates back to 1841, but it hasn't been in use for 35 years or more. We've newly moved it into Phlegmariurus.

For more details, you should be able to freely download a pdf from this link:
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/Q94TKDDGCFMWYK35SAG8/full?target=10.1080/0028825X.2019.1668438
(Email me if that doesn't work, and I'll send you the pdf.)

All of the plants below are Phlegmariurus varius. Even with the segregation of P. billardierei, P. varius continues to live up to its name.
Phlegmariurus varius can be a big, pendulous epiphyte, a gracile epiphyte, or a stout, upright terrestrial plant (especially in alpine areas).