NOTE - THIS PROTO-PAGE IS STILL IN THE EARLY STAGES OF CONSTRUCTION!

This is perhaps the most durable and widely distributed of New Zealand's tree ferns, often the sole survivor after the forest has been cleared. Probably its vegetative mode of reproduction helps in this respect -- it forms clumps by sending out stolons, and felled trunks will often root if they come in contact with the soil. If the crown is damaged, buds near the base will send out roots into the soil and produce new ferns. Despite this toughness and resilience, however, it is less frost-resistant than its close (botanical) relative, the wheki-ponga, and wheki exposed to wind or adverse weather will look much more scraggly than the wheki-ponga, with its somewhat more delicate-looking fronds. Plants reach varied heights, from about two to six metres.

When the fronds are young, their stipes (midribs) are covered with dark-brown hairs, but these diappear as the frond ages, leaving a smooth, shiny surface behind. The old fronds may remain cloaking the upper part of the trunk for a considerable time, when they eventually break off, a few inches of the base remains, encircling and protecting the trunk and giving it a distinctive appearance.

Slabs of the trunk of whekï (tïrongo) were used for lining kumara pits. They were an abundant renewable resource and would have provided excellent insulation.