Division of Forestry and Wildlife: Native Ecosystems Protection & Management

Pendant kihi fern, a member of the Polypodiaceae family, is a small, pendent, epiphytic (not rooted on the ground) fern usually growing on the trunks of large native trees. The rhizome (a horizontal underground stem that sends out both shoots and roots) is covered with small dark, stiff scales 2 to 4 cm (0.8 to 1.6 in) long. Its yellowish green fronds (fern leaves) are usually between 10 and 40 (4 to 6 in) cm long and covered with hairs. The fronds have slightly hairy stalks less than 1 cm (o.4 in) long. Each frond is comprised of oblong (entire leaf) or narrowly triangular pinnae (divisions or leaflets) 5 to 15 mm (0.2 to 0.6 in) long with margins that are smooth or toothed and lined with sparse hairs. Round sori (groups of spore-producing structures) usually develop in the central portion of the fertile frond, forming two regular rows on each pinna (“Pendant Kihi Fern (Adenophorus Periens),” n.d.).