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Marattia salicina

Para

Potato Fern

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Frond and plant	129KB
Image:	Frond features	107KB
Image:	Sporangia of Angiopteris and Marattia	102KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Potato Fern, Horseshoe Fern

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Para (RR)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE se.Asia - Societies - NZ

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Land, mountains (++)

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Food (former Leaf-base)

KEY FEATURES: A large fern to 2m. BASE dome-like, to 30cmØ. FROND arise from base, to 2m; frond-stalk, to 110cm, stalk-midrib to 60cm, distinct bend at first side-branches; frond-base contains edible-starch. SIDE-BRANCHES (=pinnae) 2-7 opposite pairs, w/wo one terminal; to 50cm, with many leaflets, to 120x15mm; sporangia are clustered in short double-rows within an envelope (=indusium).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: -
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+++	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Northern Group: -
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Marattia salicina Sm.
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; PTERIDOPHYTA (=Pterophyta); Marattiales; MARATTIACEAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.437 Tropica
p.387e Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands
p.115 McCormack/Kunzle - Rarotonga's Mountain Tracks and Plants

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM04b, zD02, zupD04b

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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