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Kidney Fern


Kidney Fern
Photo Information
Copyright: Steve Reekie (LordPotty) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1381 W: 144 N: 3872] (12503)
Genre: Plants
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2009-03-15
Categories: Rain Forest
Camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5
Exposure: f/8
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2009-04-07 2:05
Viewed: 5800
Points: 34
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
This is another look at one of our most attractive filmy ferns,the Kidney Fern,Trichomanes reniforme.

I've posted photos of these a few times before,so I'll use the species notes I used for one of those shots.

Kidney Ferns belong to an unusual and distinctive group of ferns called Filmy Ferns (Hymenophyllacae)
There are 27 different species of filmy ferns in New Zealand all of which grow in forests.
The fronds are delicate,tissue paper thin and translucent.
During dry spells they can shrivel up and appear brown and dead,but quickly revive when it rains.
Unlike most other ferns,the sori (spore producing structures) develop on the margins of the leaves rather than on the underside of fronds.
The sporangia are attached to long or short stalks which are protected by membraneuos flaps when young.

Trichomanes reniforme is one of our most unusual filmy ferns.It has fronds with slender stalks up to 25cm long and kidney shaped to round undivided shiny blades 3-10cm long x 4-13 cm wide.
It often forms extensive mats on the forest floor and sometimes climbs up rocks or tree trunks.
They make a spectacular sight when the low evening or morning sun shines through a large swathe of them creating an almost neon glow.
In fruiting season the margins of the leaves are crowded around with brown powdery sporangia which project slightly from prominent protective cups.

In the spring and summer,I will post more shots of the fruiting ferns,with their rows of spore producing sporangia around the leaf margins.

In this shot you can also see one of our native Maidenhair ferns.
Hope you like it.
Thanks for looking.

Cheers
Steve
ppmiranda, valy67, rousettus, oanaotilia, Heaven, eqshannon, zulfu, jaycee, boreocypriensis, albert, Argus, BobH, Pitoncle has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To euroblinkie: Blue fernLordPotty 1 04-07 16:44
To jaycee: Tour guideLordPotty 1 04-07 16:43
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Steve !
I didn't know ferns could look like that, eally amazing, Nature is full of surprises. You managed to capture beautiful nuances of green, and I alsolike the details, and the composition showing different species of forest vegetation is wondeful. Very well done !
Valérie.

hello Steve
there are many ferns species commonly, especially my hometown, Black Sea area. but we dont have such a fern. I also see another interesting shaped one on your great post.
focus, composition, colors and natural BG great. thanks for sharing, best wishes
Ahmet

Dear Steve!

I have not looked at your gallery for a couple of days and I'm delighted by the quality and diversity of your last pictures. I also like this one here very much. It's all in green, and this creates a refreshing atmosphere. Moreover, the shapes of the plants are very beautiful and I like your interesting notes.

Kind regards

Markus

Namastay Steve,
A nice capture of this beautiful fern. Sharp details and a lovely composition. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Sincerely
Hara

Well it certainly looks like what I have seen as kidneys so I can understand the name..but perhaps something like "La Nephrologe" would be more apt.....HA! I was about to add it to my lime green theme, but I think it is on silly millimeter off for lime..it is however quite lovely and very relaxing as well...except when you quote Latin:-)
Bob

Hello Steve,

Interesting shape of the leaf. Nice take and good colours.

Thanks,
Prasad

  • Great 
  • zulfu Gold Star Critiquer [C: 685 W: 0 N: 2] (43)
  • [2009-04-07 10:15]

Hello Steve, perfect shot of this beautifully shaped fern with wonderful details.
TFS and G's,
Mehmet

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2454 W: 10 N: 8044] (25460)
  • [2009-04-07 11:20]
  • [+]

Hi Steve,

The various ferns I saw in NZ were sooooo beautiful. Never saw one like this - I wouldn't expect this to be considered a fern. It is lovely and so is the picture which is a study in green. You would have made a much better tour director than the one I had :-)

Jane

hello Steve
beautiful and separate glance
very good photo
best regards
Nasos

hello Steve
this Fern is so beautiful and strange for my
i have never seen this fern before
great details of the bush
and beautiful colours
i found in costa rice a bleu fern
greeting lou

Hi and Good Morning Steve,
An awesome macro capture of this fern from nice POV with wonderful details, nice sharpness and fine composition.
TFS and have a nice day!
Cheers,
Bayram

Hi Steve

Great capture of this unique, almost transluscent fern. Well composed amongst the other ferny friends too. It reminds me of the few days we spent together this time last year, fond memories indeed.

Chris

Hello Steeve
Many thanks for presenting this unusual fern,
A fine green composition with great exposure
TFS
Albert

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5038 W: 260 N: 15594] (50626)
  • [2009-04-08 6:20]

Hello Steve,
A superb portrait of a beautifully shaped fern, the Kidney Fern. Technically this is top notch and the composition ints habitat together with the Maidenhair Fern is great. Nice one and TFS!
Cheers,
Ivan

Steve-

A wonderful image, with lovely colors and such a sense of delicacy. Now that you have mentioned the beautiful light coming through the filmy leaves, we will all want to see it!

What caught my attention is the bilateral symmetry of the leaf. It first struck me that with all the branching veins, there are no branches crossing what seems to be the midline of the leaf (rotated slightly ccw from vertical). I compared vein branching on opposite sides and found them to match exactly (odd for most leaves). The glare made this difficult, so I did a workshop to reduce it.

My further comparison showed that each junction I chose had an exactly matching junction on the other half of the leaf. There must be a good reason for this, but it seems strange. Any idea based on knowledge of leaf development or is this just one of those imponderables?

Bob

  • Great 
  • foozi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2791 W: 0 N: 6696] (25839)
  • [2009-04-12 3:36]

Hi Steve,
I think i have seen this one in our rainforest too. maybe its a different specied but I recalled its shape almost similar.
I like noticing the veins and lines in the green hues.

regards,
foozi

Bonjour Steve,
Très belle publication remarquable par la finesse des détails.
A bientôt sur TN pour de nouvelles aventures.
Gérard

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