Baby Hapuʻu Pulu (Hawaiian Tree fern) vs mature individual. For reference, I'm 6 feet tall Image

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u/Mediocre_Fox_ 3d ago

The tallest individual I saw had a trunk about 15-20 feet tall, but it was considerably off trail and I was unable to get a good photo of it

u/coconut-telegraph 2d ago

Are you sure the juvenile is the same species?

5

u/Mediocre_Fox_ 2d ago

Yup, I've seen a lot of these guys. The fronds don't 'branch' as much when they're young

3

u/coconut-telegraph 2d ago

Genuinely curious, it looks so ordinary. Thanks.

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u/Mediocre_Fox_ 2d ago

Yeah, the babies look really similar to young Southern Shield Ferns (at least, to me), an invasive that doesn't grow up to a tree fern or get more spread to the fronds. At first I would confuse the Hapu'u juveniles until I learned to distinguish by the frond texture (Hapu'u fronds are glossy, Southern Shield Ferns are fuzzy)

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u/coconut-telegraph 2d ago

I have southern shield ferns in my yard as natives (Bahamas) and that’s exactly what ran through my mind.

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u/Mediocre_Fox_ 2d ago

Oh that's funny we both thought of the same thing. I have a little shield fern I plucked from the forest growing in a pot in my yard