Flora of the Hawaiian Islands
Pteridophyte Literature for Angiopteris evecta
Palmer, 2003.
   Marattiaceae Bibliography
      Angiopteris evecta

Common name(s): giant fern, mule's-foot fern
General Information
DistributionNative to Malaysia and Polynesia and the Old World Tropics.In the Hawaiian Islands, naturalized on Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Maui, Hawai`i.

Marattiaceae - Angiopteris evecta















HabitatMoist shaded valleys and moist ridges
Elevation100-650 m
Habit
Terrestrial, huge; caudices massive, ascending, short, to 50+ cm diameter, marked with "mule's-foot" scars at old stipe attachments.
Leaves
Fronds up to 7 x 3 m; stipe with scattered, light tan fibrils to dark brown, linear-triangular scales on lower portion, glabrous distally, 2 large fleshy appendages (stipules) at the swollen base of each stipe; pinnae 6-15 pairs, up to 150 cm long, bases of stalks with pulvini; pinnules up to 25 cm long, dark green, leathery, lustrous; veins free, 0- to 1-forked, parallel, with "false vein" between each vein.
Notes
Latin evectus, spread, carry aloft, in reference to the huge, spreading fronds.
Contributor
Sally Eichhorn