Blechnum filiforme

The thread fern (pānoko), now often called Icarus filiformis, is a New Zealand fern that creeps along the forest floor with small rounded fronds and then climbs tree trunks, where it makes long fronds with narrow leaflets. Its fertile fronds are thread-thin. It suits a cool, humid terrarium or a sheltered shady garden with a trunk or a mounted slab to climb.

At home, aim for

Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry

Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry

Humidity Humid airBand in Plantistry

Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry

No rest periodClimber

Where it grows wild

A lowland and lower-montane forest fern that roots in the ground and then climbs tree trunks, changing frond shape as it climbs. It grows in shaded, moist podocarp-broadleaf forest.

Recorded from 15 to 1,225 m, median 330 m (410 records).

New Zealand North IslandNew Zealand South IslandChatham Islands

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates

✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it

✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light

✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it

✓ Substrate and airflow

✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app.