Dicksonia squarrosa, Rough Tree Fern, Slender Tree Fern, New Zealand Tree Fern, Wheki.
The species' natural habitat is humid montane scrub, dominated by tree ferns (Dicksonia externa) and ferns (Lophosoria quadripinnata) between 800–1300 m above sea level (though they will descend lower during the austral winter).
The four vegetation zones comprise an arid, eroded lowland below 350 m, an intermediate zone at 350–500 m of pasture and non-indigenous woodland, a moist highland zone characterised by woodland and flax plantations and, at the highest point of the island, a small remnant area of native Dicksonia fern thicket and Melanodendron cabbage trees.