Australian Tropical Ferns and Lycophytes - Online edition

Alsophila australis


Click/tap on images to enlarge
Habit. © R. Hill, APII
Close up of frond showing sori. © R. Hill, APII
Close up of frond showing sori. © R. Hill, APII
Family

Cyatheaceae

Botanical name

Alsophila australis R.Br.

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/83377

Description

Rhizome to c. 12 m tall, 15–40 cm diam., sometimes up to 1.5 m at base. Stipe to 80 cm long; stipe bases with conical spines to 3 mm long, covered with glossy brown scales; scales 2–5 cm long, 1.2–5 mm wide at base, with narrow fragile margins and an apical seta. Frond lamina to 3.5 m long; largest pinnae c. 50 cm long; a few pairs of lower pinnae progressively reduced, extending sometimes nearly to the base of the stipe (most commonly in QLD); pinnules 10–12 cm long, to 2.5 cm wide, with 1 or more pairs of lobes near base separately attached to costa; lobes ±crenate, some lower ones deeply so; veins mostly forked; larger costal scales flat, elongate, brownish, grading to thin flat ±hyaline scales and to small bullate pale tan scales with setose apices; slender crinkled hairs present on costae and costules. Sori at the forks of veins, exindusiate, with irregularly-shaped small scales around receptacle; paraphyses ±same length as sporangia.

Distribution

Endemic to SE Australia with one record from NE QLD.

Habit and habitat

Terrestrial on the margin between rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest.

Citation of Australian Tropical Ferns and Lycophytes

Field AR, Quinn CJ, Zich FA (2022) Australian Tropical Ferns and Lycophytes. apps.lucidcentral.org/fern/text/intro/index.htm (accessed online INSERT DATE).

Field AR, Quinn CJ, Zich FA (2022) ‘Platycerium superbum’, in Australian Tropical Ferns and Lycophytes. apps.lucidcentral.org/fern/text/entities/platycerium_superbum.htm (accessed online INSERT DATE).

Copyright © Australian Tropical Herbarium 2022, all rights reserved.