Pityrogramma chrysophylla sensu auct., non (Sw.) Link
Naturalized gold fern, goldback fern
Latin austri, south,+ americana, America + -ana, a suffix indicating connection or possession, referring to its origin in South America.
Rhizomes erect with attached dense mass of roots. Fronds densely clustered, to 90 em long (mostly shorter), spreading. Stipes grooved and ridged adaxially, reddish brown, shiny. Blades mostly 2-pinnate to 2-pinnate-pinnatifid, subcoriaceous, adaxial ridges on rachises and costae prominent, adaxial sur-faces glossy. Pinnae abaxial surfaces cov-ered with a fine, deep golden yellow powder (farina); lowermost pinnae with stalks 4-6 mm long, basal pinnules usually not eared. Pinnule margins mostly entire, those nearest the rachis sometimes lobed, tips more or less rounded. Sori arranged in lines along veins, usually obscured by farina.
Locally common in exposed drier areas, on bare banks, along trails and roadsides, and in open disturbed fields, 45-1,525 m. Native to South America, this popular horticultural fern was first collected on Kaua 'i in 1903 and had spread throughout all the major islands, Kaho'olawe, and Ni'ihau by 1950.
The 2-pinnate to 2-pinnate-pinnatifid Pityrogramma austroamericana is the only fern in Hawai'i with golden to yellow powder covering the entire undersurface of the pinnae.