Cheilanthes distans

Pteridaceae

Cheilanthes distans (R.Br.) Mett.

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/62368

Scaley Resurrection Fern

Fronds to 30 cm long and 3 cm wide; stipe red-brown or dark brown, with moderately dense to dense, brown scales and some hairs; rachis with dense scale; lamina linear, 2-pinnate or 2-pinnatifid at base and for most of length; larger pinnae triangular-ovate; pinnules oblong-elliptic; margins entire or lobed; upper surface with sparse to moderately dense, slender, white hairs and very sparse scales, occasionally glabrous; lower surface with sparse to dense scales and very sparse hairs. Spores spherical, granulose and ridged, with echinate ornamentation, 43–79 µm diam., 16 per sporangium.

Occurs in QLD, NSW, Vic, SA and WA, most collections come from eastern QLD between Cooktown and Charleville. Also in Polynesia and New Zealand.

Terrestrial in soil pockets and rock crevices, usually in open woodland in rocky mountainous areas. Not usually a rainforest species but sometimes recorded from granite torrs and on cliffs in rainforest.

As for Cheilanthes brownii.

Similar to Cheilanthes brownii and C. lasiophylla but easily identified by the presence of large scales on the undersurface of the lamina in C. distans.