Scientific name: Dicranopteris linearis

Classification: Phylum: Plantae. Class: Pteridopytae

Origin: Indigenous

Status: Common in mesic areas

Distribution: All the main islands

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This native fern is found in moist conditions and often forms thick, almost impenetrable thickets on the edges of forests. Although it is a native plant, it is has been the scourge of many hikers who have been scraped up trying to blaze a trail through a stand of the prickly uluhe. Beware of it on steep cliffside trails! It forms thick mats that make it appear there is solid ground underneath—when there may not be!