Australian Tropical Ferns and Lycophytes - Online edition

Dryopteris wattsii

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Close up of frond showing sori. © G. Sankowsky

Stipe scales. © G. Sankowsky

Rhizome. © G. Sankowsky

Habit. © A.R. Field

Family

Dryopteridaceae

Botanical name

Dryopteris wattsii McKeown, Sundue & Barrington

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/241942

Description

Epiphytic fern, Rhizome 3–4.5 cm thick, short creeping. Scales brown; apices acuminate; margins entire or slightly erose with glandular hairs. Fronds 1–2.5 cm apart, 1–2 m long. Stipe 35–60 cm long, scaly at the base, slightly roughened. Lamina 65–140 cm long, 60–120 cm wide, dark green above, paler beneath. Pinnae 30–60 cm long, 8–20 cm wide; apices attenuate-caudate; ultimate segments lanceolate, lobed to crenate; costules raised abaxially, channelled adaxially. Sori greenish at maturity.

Distribution

Endemic to NE QLD between the Carbine Tableland and Kirrama Range.

Habit and habitat

Epiphytic, usually from other epiphytic ferns, in high rainfall upper montane vine forest.

Natural history

A rare epiphytic fern that grows from other epiphytic ferns such as Asplenium and Platycerium.

Cultivation

Easily cultivated in a cool moist tropical or subtropical climate. Grows well in a hanging basket of coarse free draining material or planted in the base of a nest-fern.

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).

Web edition hosted at https://apps.lucidcentral.org/ferns