ALIEN FERNS IN HAWAI'I

Cheilanthes viridis (Forsskål) Swartz [syn. Pellaea viiridis (Forsskål) Prantl (the "viridis" group of species is poorly understood and needs to be studied and revised)], Green Cliff Brake, was first collected in the wild in 1928 and was known to be well established in several localities on O'ahu in 1950 (Wagner 1950) . It is now also reported from Kaua'i, where it was found growing in Waimea Canyon in 1987 (Flynn & Weller 2082, PTBG) and in Lawa'i Valley in 1995 (Flynn 5719, PTBG). On Maui a plant was seen growing in a dry gulch above Lahaina in the early 1980s (Hobdy pers. comm.) and a collection was made of it in Halepohaku Ridge, West Maui in 1991 (Hobdy & Medeiros 3269, BISH). This southern African fern is common in cultivation, from which it probably escaped; it does not appear to be an aggressive colonizer.