King Fern
Todea barbara
Flora
| At a Glance | |
| Family | Osmundaceae |
| Seasonality | Evergreen |
| Height | Rhizome erect or suberect, up to 1m tall. 300mm diameter |
| SA Tree Number | n/a |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern |
Description
Todea barbara is a large, thick-set fern that resembles a tree fern. The fronds grow from a massive trunk, locally up to a metre or more tall. The fronds emerge from multiple crowns.
Distribution
he South Western Cape through eastern Southern Africa up to border with Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Also indigenous to Australia and New Zealand
Todea barbara is mostly found along streams as they thrive when their rhizomes are continuously bathed in running water. They tolerate temperatures as low as 4°C.
Flower - Fruit
Ferns have neither flower of fruit and reproduce via spores.
Spores are found thickly covering the undersurface of the pinules (fronds)
Uses
Not generally found in gardens nor readily available for sale at nurseries.
Local Information
You will find this fern in large numbers on the Molweni River along the Longshadow Trail.
Krantzkloof Nature Reserve is home to a very wide range of ferns some of which are quite uncommon. The photographs included in this BioGuide show some of the other beautiful fern species found in the reserve.
Krantzkloof Nature Reserve has been a “hunting ground” for ferns for over a century. In the mid to late 1800’s there was an absolute craze for ferns and pteridomaniacs (people who are crazy about ferns) scoured the deep ravines and cliffs of Krantzkloof for specimens to send back to Victorian England.
Interesting Facts
A fern is a member of a group of roughly 12,000 species of vascular plants that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular (i.e. having water-conducting vessels). They have stems and leaves, like other vascular plants.