Classification
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Deparia petersenii (Kunze) M.Kato, Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 90: 37 (1977) subsp. petersenii
 Recognition

Very similar to subsp. congrua but distinguished by its more thickly succulent and brittle laminar tissue, usually with some blue-green iridescence on the adaxial surface, and pinnae lobed about halfway to the costa. Subsp. congrua has thinner and less brittle laminar tissue, always lacking blue-green iridescence on the adaxial surface, and pinnae lobed to c. 1 mm from the costa, giving the frond a rather more open and less chunky look.

 Distribution

North Island: Volcanic Plateau.

Altitudinal range: 10 m.

Deparia petersenii subsp. petersenii is known only from Robbins Park, near Tauranga.

Occurs naturally in Himalayas, southern India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Naturalised in the Azores (Sledge 1977), south-east Brazil (Kato 1984) and Hawai‘i where Palmer (2003) noted that it was first collected in 1938 since spreading rapidly in disturbed areas and into intact native forest. It is also recorded as naturalised in Florida (Smith 1993) and sometimes in Australia (Jones 1998), but in these areas it appears to be more of an escape from cultivation than truly naturalised.

 Habitat

Recorded from concrete and brick walls in a garden close to glasshouses.

 Biostatus
Exotic
 First Record

New record. Voucher AK 363422, 2016.

 Notes

Parris (pers. comm. 2017) noted that Deparia petersenii subsp. petersenii has been in cultivation in New Zealand for some decades and used to be sold in garden centres, but that it didn’t survive long outside, even in Auckland or Kerikeri. The extent of its occurrence in New Zealand and its relationship to subsp. congrua require further investigation.

 Bibliography
Brownsey, P.J.; Perrie, L.R. 2018: Athyriaceae. In: Breitwieser, I.; Wilton, A.D. (ed.) Flora of New Zealand — Ferns and Lycophytes. Fascicle 24. Manaaki Whenua Press, Lincoln.
Brownsey, P.J.; Smith-Dodsworth, J.C. 2000: New Zealand ferns and allied plants. Edition 2. David Bateman, Auckland.
Ching, R. 1964: On some confused genera of the family Athyriaceae. Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica 9: 41–84.
Christ, H. 1902: Filices Bodinierianae, déterminées et décrites. Bulletin de l’Académie Internationale de Géographie Botanique 1902: 189–274.
Jones, D.L. 1998: Athyriaceae. In: Flora of Australia. Vol. 48. 418–429.
Kato, M. 1977: Classification of Athyrium and allied genera of Japan. Botanical Magazine (Tokyo) 90: 23–40.
Kato, M. 1984: A taxonomic study of the Athyrioid fern genus Deparia with main reference to the Pacific species. Journal of the Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo, Section III. Botany 13: 375–429.
Kunze, G. 1837: Analecta Pteridographica. Leopold Voss, Leipzig.
Ohba, H. 1965: Considerations on the genus Lunathyrium in Japan (1). Science Report of the Yokosuka City Museum 11: 48–55 (in Japanese).
Palmer, D.D. 2003: Hawai‘i’s ferns and fern allies. University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu.
Sledge, W.A. 1977: Lunathyrium in the Azores; a postscript. Fern Gazette 11: 331–336.
Smith, A.R. 1993: Dryopteridaceae. In: Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms. Vol. 2. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.) Flora of North America. Oxford University Press, New York.