Dryopteridaceae
Australian Tropical Ferns and Lycophytes - Online edition
Arachniodes aristata
Arachniodes aristata (G.Forst.) Tindale
Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/98242
Prickly Shield Fern
Rhizome long-creeping, densely scaly; scales narrowly triangular to linear, 4–10 mm long, 0.2–0.8 mm wide, brown, with a long-attenuate apex. Fronds spaced along the rhizome. Stipe 15–60 cm long, scaly. Lamina pentagonal, 23–45 cm long, 14–30 cm wide, dark green and glossy above, paler and glossy beneath, coriaceous, somewhat prickly; apex abruptly acuminate; main rachis pale, sparsely scaly. Ultimate segments ovate, 5–20 mm long, 3–8 mm wide; base unequally cuneate; margins with long sharp teeth; apex with a short point. Sori terminal on basal branches on the apical side of the secondary veins; indusium reniform, with a dark centre.
Palaeotropical. In Australia it occurs from Windsor Tableland in NE QLD to NSW.
Terrestrial in in a wide variety of rainforest types. Often seen on road banks and hillslopes.
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).