Soft Tree Fern / Kātote

Botanical name: Alsophila smithii
Synonyms: Cyathea smithii, Hemitelia smithii
Common name(s): Kātote, Smith’s Tree Fern, Soft Tree Fern

Plant facts:
A graceful and distinctly soft-textured New Zealand native tree fern recognised by its delicate fronds and persistent skirt of old frond stems around the trunk. This moisture-loving species is common in cool wet forest and is highly valued for creating lush rainforest-style plantings and shaded fern gullies.

Natural habitat:
Occurs naturally in lowland to montane forest, wet gullies, valley heads, forest margins and regenerating scrub, especially in humid and sheltered environments.

Growing environment:
Shade, Moist soil, Humidity, Shelter & Free draining tolerant.
Requires cool humid conditions with protection from wind, direct sun and drought.

Endemic distribution:
Endemic to New Zealand.
Found throughout the North Island, South Island, Stewart Island/Rakiura, Chatham Islands and Auckland Islands.

Height:
Typically 3–8 m tall

Trunk:
Slender trunk clothed in persistent dark brown stipe remnants forming a distinctive shaggy skirt beneath the crown.

Fronds:
Soft delicate horizontal fronds up to 2.5 m long, finely divided and pale beneath.

Growth habit:
A slow-growing understory tree fern forming a graceful spreading crown in cool damp forests.

Flowering:
Not applicable — spore producing fern

Fruiting:
Not applicable — reproduces via spores

Spore production:
Sori arranged beneath the fronds with shallow saucer-like indusia surrounding the bases of the sori.

Uses:

• Fern gullies and rainforest gardens
• Native forest restoration
• Shaded streamside planting
• Understory feature planting
• Moist woodland gardens
• Cool-climate landscaping
• Shelter and humidity planting

Appearance:

Trunk:
Dark slender trunk covered in persistent brown stipe stubs and skirted with old rachises.

Leaves / fronds:
Fronds are soft, finely textured and horizontally spreading, dark glossy green above and paler beneath.

Young growth:
Emerging croziers are softly scaled with delicate red-brown scales and fine stellate hairs.

Distinctive features:
Recognisable by its soft fronds, persistent skirt and the reddish-brown scales and star-shaped hairs on the frond stems.

Ecology:
A common subcanopy species in wet indigenous forest where it contributes significantly to forest humidity, understory shelter and habitat structure. Often dominant in regenerating forest or deer-disturbed bush.

Cultural uses:
Historically the pith was occasionally used as an emergency starch source despite its resinous taste. Trunks were also used for rough construction, fencing and trackwork.

Similar species:
Can resemble young Alsophila cunninghamii, though A. smithii has softer fronds and darker red-brown scales lacking the stiff bristle-like tips seen in A. cunninghamii.

How to grow:
Best planted in rich moist free-draining soil in sheltered semi-shade or deep shade. Must never be allowed to dry out and benefits greatly from humid conditions and protection from strong winds and frost. Particularly well suited to wetter regions of New Zealand. Propagates from spores, though slowly.

Planting uses:

• Native rainforest gardens
• Shaded stream banks
• Wet woodland planting
• Fern collections
• Humid courtyard planting
• Understory canopy layering

Conservation status:
Not threatened — widespread and locally common throughout much of its range.

Garden value:
An elegant and highly ornamental native tree fern prized for its lush soft foliage and rainforest appearance. Particularly effective in cool damp gardens where its delicate fronds and shaggy trunk create a rich natural forest atmosphere.