Mātātā

Botanical name: Histiopteris incisa
Synonyms: Pteris incisa, Pteris montana, Pteris vespertilionis, Phegopteris incisa, Pteris alpina, Pteris brunoniana, Histiopteris vespertilionis, Litobrochia incisa, Litobrochia vespertilionis
Common name(s): Mātātā, Bat’s wing fern, Water fern, Histiopteris

About:
A vigorous, bracken-like fern with long-creeping underground rhizomes and large, widely spreading fronds that can form extensive colonies. Histiopteris incisa is particularly distinctive when young, as emerging fronds have a bluish-green or glaucous appearance before becoming more yellow-green with age.

The fern is strongly associated with disturbed ground and open, moist habitats. It is often among the first native ferns to colonise slips, road cuttings, forest clearings and areas damaged by browsing or windthrow. The characteristic basal secondary pinnae can overlap the main rachis, producing the bat-wing appearance responsible for one of its common names.

Natural habitat:
Occurs from coastal areas to subalpine environments in a very wide range of open, moist habitats.

Common sites include forest clearings, light gaps, forest margins, roadside cuttings, river banks, lake and swamp margins, alluvial flats, ditches, coastal cliffs, dunes, rotten logs, wind-thrown forest, tussockland and shrubland.

It is also frequent beneath introduced conifer plantations and can colonise thermally heated soils and stream margins.

Growing environment:
Frost, Partial Shade, Sun, Moist Soil & Disturbance tolerant. Performs best in deep, fertile, consistently moist soil but can grow in a surprisingly broad range of conditions where moisture is reliable.

Endemic distribution:
Indigenous but not endemic to New Zealand.

Widespread throughout the North Island and South Island, as well as the Kermadec Islands, Manawatāwhi/Three Kings Islands, Stewart Island/Rakiura, Chatham Islands and New Zealand’s subantarctic islands.

Outside New Zealand it occurs widely through Australia, Tasmania, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island, the Pacific and other tropical and southern temperate regions.

Height:
Fronds commonly 0.6–2 m tall or long, occasionally exceeding this under favourable conditions.

Width:
Individual fronds may exceed 1 m wide, while creeping rhizomes can spread indefinitely and form colonies several metres across.

Flowering:
Not applicable – fern reproducing by spores.

Fruiting:
Not applicable – fern reproducing by spores.

Spores are produced in sori along the margins of fertile frond segments.

Uses:
• Native fern gardens
• Moist forest restoration
• Revegetation of disturbed ground
• Shaded banks and slopes
• Riparian planting
• Naturalistic woodland gardens
• Large fern colonies
• Erosion reduction on moist ground
• Wildlife and invertebrate habitat
• Botanical and educational planting

Appearance:
Growth habit:
A terrestrial fern spreading through long-creeping rhizomes.

Fronds arise at intervals along the rhizome rather than forming a tight crown. This growth habit allows the fern to expand rapidly across suitable ground and form extensive colonies.

In colder regions it may become summer-green or deciduous, while in milder climates fronds can persist for longer periods.

Leaves:
Fronds are large, broadly ovate to elliptic and usually divided two to three times, with especially large specimens becoming even more finely divided.

Young fronds are distinctly glaucous or bluish-green, one of the species’ most useful identification characters. Mature fronds generally become yellow-green.

The primary pinnae occur in opposite pairs, with secondary pinnae also generally opposite. The basal secondary pinnae are often conspicuously reduced and extend toward or overlap the rachis, giving a distinctive bat-wing shape.

Ultimate segments have rounded or blunt tips and smooth to slightly crenate margins.

Fronds:
Frond stalks, or stipes, range from green when young to yellow-brown, red-brown or chestnut with age. They are glossy and largely hairless except for scales near the base.

Fronds are generally completely glabrous, distinguishing Histiopteris incisa from many similarly large native ferns.

The venation is reticulate, with veins joining together to form a network rather than remaining completely separate.

Spores:
Sori form an almost continuous line around the margins of fertile segments, except near their tips.

There is no true indusium. Instead, the frond margin rolls backward over the sori to form a protective flap.

The spores are pale and finely tuberculate, and are dispersed by wind.

Ecology:
Mātātā is an important pioneer fern of disturbed habitats.

Its long-creeping rhizomes allow rapid vegetative spread once a plant becomes established, while its tiny wind-dispersed spores enable it to colonise newly exposed ground over considerable distances.

The species frequently increases where forest has been damaged by storms, browsing animals, logging or other disturbance. In these situations it can form dense colonies that help cover exposed soil and contribute to early vegetation recovery.

Although often associated with moist ground, it is not restricted to wetlands and can occupy a wide range of sites where sufficient soil moisture is available.

Associated habitats:
Coastal forest, podocarp forest, broadleaf forest, beech forest, mānuka and kānuka scrub, pine plantations, roadside banks, forest clearings, river banks, swamp margins, lake shores, alluvial flats, coastal cliffs, dunes, subalpine shrubland and tussock grassland.

How to grow:
Very easy to grow, but potentially vigorous.

Plant in partial shade or open light in deep, fertile, moisture-retentive soil. It performs particularly well in woodland conditions, damp banks and beside waterways.

Plants tolerate more sun where the soil remains consistently moist.

Because the creeping rhizomes can spread rapidly, allow plenty of room or use root containment where a large colony is not wanted.

Old or damaged fronds can be removed at ground level to maintain a tidy appearance.

Propagation:
Very easily propagated from fresh spores or young rooted sections.

Spores can be sown onto a sterile, moist propagation medium and maintained in humid, shaded conditions.

Division is usually much quicker. Sections of creeping rhizome carrying healthy roots and young fronds can be transplanted into moist soil and kept well watered until established.

Because the fern establishes readily, only small divisions are usually needed.

Cultural use:
Mātātā is a recognised Māori name for Histiopteris incisa.

Specific traditional practical uses are not extensively documented in the material available here, but the species is a conspicuous component of disturbed and regenerating native vegetation throughout much of Aotearoa.

Garden value:
A bold and attractive fern where space allows.

Its blue-green emerging fronds, broad architectural foliage and unusual bat-wing pinnae make it an excellent plant for large native fern gardens, damp woodland and naturalistic restoration projects.

It is particularly valuable for quickly establishing fern cover on moist disturbed ground, although its vigorous creeping habit means it can become dominant in small gardens. In larger landscapes, that same ability makes mātātā an effective and visually impressive native ground-covering fern.