Cyathea dealbata, ponga or silver fern is endemic to New Zealand, and occurs on the main islands of New Zealand and on the Chatham Islands to the east, mostly in the sub canopy areas of drier forests and in open scrub. Its distribution is not even, and does not occur naturally in an area around Lake Taupo in the North Island and is largely absent from most of the South Island except for scattered occurrences on the Kaikoura Coast, Banks Peninsula, Costal Marlborough and Northwest Nelson south to about as far as Westport, parts of Fiordland on the southern west coast, and the Catlins on the southern east coast. It is common, and found primarily in coastal and lowland habitats but extending to lower montane areas, preferring dry forest and shrubland, often under pines. It is the most distinctive and easily recognised tree fern because it has large fronds with a silvery underside, and grows 3-10m or more tall. Although hardy it prefers to be under tree canopy and sheltered from the wind, with adequate moisture and good drainage, but can tolerate dry.  It is a symbol commonly associated with New Zealand both overseas and by New Zealanders themselves. The silver fern leaves appear on the coat of arms of New Zealand. Some of the earliest uses of the silver fern were adopted by the New Zealand Army during the Second Boer War. Since then, the silver fern has been used by the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces during both World Wars and all Commonwealth war graves of fallen New Zealand soldiers have the silver fern engraved on their tombstones.  New Zealand peacekeepers have since used both the silver fern and kiwi symbols for different deployments to differentiate from their Australian and British counterparts. The koru symbol is inspired by the shape of an unfurling silver fern frond, and is found extensively in Māori art, and is used in a stylised form as the logo for our national airline, Air New Zealand. The silver fern is widely used as a symbol by New Zealand national sports teams in various stylised forms, including the national netball team which also takes its name from it. Traditional Māori uses include using ponga as building material, for treating skin problems, marking tracks for night-time use, and the trunk’s woody fibre was used to make poisonous spear tips.