Acrophorus leucorhachis

Description:

This rare fern is seen here in its native habitat in cloud forest on the island of Rarotonga (Cook Islands, South Pacific). It was first described from Rarotonga by T.F. Cheeseman, who discovered it there in 1899. He gave it the specific epithet "leucorhachis" but placed it in a different genus. A French Polynesian species, Acrophorus raiateensis, was described subsequently (in 1933) but is probably identical to A. leucorhachis. The name "leucorhachis" has priority and Rarotonga is the "type locality" for this fern. March 1992, east side of Te Manga/Ikurangi ridge, scanned Kodachrome slide 007-097.