Fern Garden

 

Cyathea lepifera	Dipteris conjugata Reinw

During the past 200 million years, Taiwan has served as a refuge for a wondrous diversity of life. Many species which were wiped out by the Ice Age in northern climates were able to survive in Taiwan. Because of its various elevations, a mix of everything from the "Black Forest" of Germany to the "Tropical Rain Forest" of Brazil can be found in Taiwan.

Taiwan can be called a "Fern Garden" because it has a greater diversity of ferns than any other place on earth - even more than some entire continents! North America, for example, has some 395 species of ferns. Europe has some 150 species. But Taiwan is thought to have 800 species (though only 685 species of them are listed) - and this on an island of only 13,900 square miles (36,000 sq KM, smaller than the states of Maryland and Delaware combined)! It is easy to find several dozen species on any single mountain here.

Why are there so many different species of ferns in Taiwan? Probably because of Taiwan's ecological diversity - a diversity resulting from Taiwan's many climates and its geological youth. Climbing up the mountains we pass through some major climate changes, from sub-tropical, to warm temperate, to temperate, to cold temperate, to sub-alpine and finally to alpine. Being geologically young, Taiwan contains a variety of folds and niches suitable for a variety of different types of vegetation.

If you are a fern lover, it is easy to find tree ferns (Cyathea lepifera) outside of Taipei city. In nearby Yangmingshan National Park it is possible to find Dipteris conjugata Reinw (see picture) and many other kinds of ferns.

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