Governor Laffan's Fern (Diplazium laffanianum)

Lab-reared Diplazium laffanianum planted in the Walsingham Nature Reserve in 2014. (C) Alison Copeland

Governor Laffan’s Fern is endemic to Bermuda and is extinct in the wild. This fern is named after Governor Sir Robert Laffan, who sent a living plant to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1880, from which this species was first described. Governor Laffan’s Fern is relatively large with bright green fronds reaching up to 30 cm (12 inches).

According to Britton’s 1918 book Flora of Bermuda, this fern was found in cave mouths and rock crevices between Harrington Sound and Paynter’s Vale up until 1905. Britton describes seeing this very rare fern in the wild in the autumn of 1905, but in 1913 when he returned to a location known to have the fern it could not be found. At one time the fern had been relatively common in the Walsingham area, and two plants were taken to a private greenhouse in Hamilton. Britton notes that he studied these plants in 1914, but was unable to successfully raise young ferns from the spores.

Distinctive linear spores on Diplazium laffanianum

Today Governor Laffan’s Fern is on the verge of extinction. It is considered extinct in the wild, as it has not been found growing in the wild in Bermuda since Britton’s 1905 observation more than 100 years ago.

In 2002 spores from this species were sent to the United States for propagation at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. Shipments of juvenile ferns were returned to Bermuda between 2009 and 2019 and are housed at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Without this conservation action it is likely that this fern would have become extinct.

A re-introduction programme for this species, using the zoo-raised ferns began in 2014. Sites within the ferns historic range in the Walsingham tract were planted with juvenile ferns during the winter months. The early trials were not very successful, but much valuable information has been gained, and the most recent plantings have been more successful. As of January 2021, thirty Governor Laffan’s Ferns are surviving at four wild sites in Bermuda, and four of them produced spores in the wild for the first time in July 2020.

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