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Alsophila dealbata; photograph Steve Evans (babasteve), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons CC BYSteve Evans (babasteve), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Alsophila dealbata (G.Forst.) Corda

Cyatheaceae · Chatham Is., New Zealand North +1 · listed by its family as a fern or moss

English names not checked: Wikidata's common names were not read for this page.

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GBIF's records not checked. GBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked. So this page has no points on its map, no map marker, no habitat climate, no cultivation sheet and no species of nearest climate; the range is Kew's. Not a statement that none exist. How.

Alsophila dealbata, photograph MurielBendel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsAlsophila dealbata, photograph Jon Sullivan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsAlsophila dealbata, photograph Sean Hamlin from Wellington, New Zealand, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsAlsophila dealbata, photograph Sean Hamlin from Wellington, New Zealand, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsAlsophila dealbata, photograph MurielBendel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsAlsophila dealbata, photograph Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 12 photographs ›

Summary

Alsophila dealbata (synonyms Alsophila tricolor and Cyathea dealbata), commonly known as the silver fern or silver tree-fern, or as ponga or punga (from Māori kaponga or ponga), is a species of medium-sized tree fern, endemic to New Zealand. The fern is usually recognisable by the silver-white colour of the under-surface of mature fronds. It is a symbol commonly associated with the country both overseas and by New Zealanders themselves.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Silver fern", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Grouped as a fern or moss, listed under the family Cyatheaceae in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “tree”.

Not checked: GBIF's records were not asked (why, under the name), and the habitat climate is read only from them, so no sheet is derived.
How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Group. Listed under the family Cyatheaceae in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “tree”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

Not checked. GBIF's records were not asked (why, under the name), and the habitat climate is read only from them, so none is derived here. This is not a statement that no climate exists.

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP.
Records not checked: GBIF's records were not asked, as said under the name.
NativeChatham Is., New Zealand North, New Zealand South · introduced: Ireland · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Kew's description“tree” · “temperate” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedGBIF's records not checked, as said under the name: so there are no points on the map, no map marker and no climate across the range; the range is Kew's. Not a statement that no record exists.

Photographs

Alsophila dealbata, photograph 1did not loadAlsophila dealbata, photograph 2did not loadAlsophila dealbata, photograph 3did not loadAlsophila dealbata, photograph 4did not loadAlsophila dealbata, photograph 5did not loadAlsophila dealbata, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: MurielBendel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (2); Jon Sullivan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Sean Hamlin from Wellington, New Zealand, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (2); Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Similar habitat climate Not checked: GBIF's records were not asked (why, under the name), and the nearest habitat climates are read from the climate they give.

Other Alsophila 12 in the reference

Alsophila australis Alsophila australis Rough tree fern Photo: CC BY, yatesyAlsophila borbonica Alsophila borbonica Mauritius Tree Fern Photo: CC BY, Denis BastianelliAlsophila colensoi Alsophila colensoi Creeping tree fern Photo: CC BY, Leon PerrieAlsophila cunninghamii Alsophila cunninghamii Gully tree fern Photo: CC BY, JamesAlsophila dregei Alsophila dregei Cyatheaceae Photo: CC BY, Henry de LangeAlsophila firma Alsophila firma Cyatheaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Chris HoessAlsophila latebrosa Alsophila latebrosa Cyatheaceae Photo: CC BY, Samuel LeeAlsophila lepifera Alsophila lepifera Cyatheaceae Photo: CC BY, 胡正恆(Jackson Hu)Alsophila manniana Alsophila manniana Sheshino Photo: CC BY, i_c_riddellAlsophila milnei Alsophila milnei Cyatheaceae Photo: CC0, Peter de LangeAlsophila smithii Alsophila smithii Golden Tree Fern Photo: CC BY, Bruce CalvertAlsophila spinulosa Alsophila spinulosa Spiny Tree Fern Photo: CC BY, 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi)

Names & registers

Also known as Polypodium dealbatum; Cyathea dealbata; Cyathea falciloba; Cyathea tricolor; Hemitelia falciloba and 1 more. (WCVP, RBG Kew)

POWOWikidataWFOWikipedia

The record

Family
Cyatheaceae
Described by
(G.Forst.) Corda
Native to
Chatham Is., New Zealand North, New Zealand South
Records
not checked · GBIF's records were not asked: the page has no GBIF key

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
Kew's names (WCVP) kew.names answeredas of 2026-06-04Kew's entry Alsophila dealbata (G.Forst.) Corda (plant_name_id 3320793), read from Kew's names file
GBIF species record gbif.species not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
Habitat climate climate not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked, and the habitat climate is read only from them
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22found by Kew's IPNI identifier none, POWO 3320793-4
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22Wikipedia's article Silver fern, the English article of this species' Wikidata item (Q135179367)
iNaturalist taxon inat.taxon not asked
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
Wikimedia Commons commons answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence.

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