Botanical name:

Parablechnum minus – (Blechnum minus)

Common name(s):

Swamp kiokio

About:

Parablechnum minus features a short, creeping stem that supports bright green sterile fronds adorned with widely spaced leaflets. In contrast, the fertile fronds tend to be significantly longer than the sterile ones and are characterised by leaflets that are long, tapering, and grow in an erect position. This particular species is distinguished from P. novae-zelandiae by its shorter and more delicate fronds, which possess fewer leaflets that are arranged in a more widely spaced manner.

Natural habitat:

Coastal to lower montane in swampy ground within swamp forest, wetlands and along the margins of freshwater lakes, streams and rivers.

Growing environment:

Sun, Shade, Wetland, Coastal & Free draining tolerant.

Endemic distribution:

New Zealand’s North, South, Chatham Islands. Also Australia from where it was first described.

Height: 80cm

Flowering: N/A Spore producing

Fruiting: N/A

Uses:

Riparian plantings & Forests.

How to grow:

Easily grown from spores, division of established plants and by transplants. Although it does best in full sun planted within a permanently damp soil, it also can be grown in shade and also on dry soils.