Parapolystichum rufescens

Dryopteridaceae

Parapolystichum rufescens (Blume) Labiak, Sundue & R.C.Moran

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/3679029

Rhizome long-creeping, 5–15 mm thick, scaly towards the apex; scales 0.5–1 mm long, 0.2–0.4 mm wide, dark brown to black. Fronds crowded to scattered. Stipe 8–45 cm long, scaly at the base. Lamina 2–4-pinnate, broadly triangular to pentagonal, 10–30 cm long, 10–25 cm wide, dark green and dull to glossy above, paler and dull beneath, thin to coriaceous, glabrous above with appressed coloured glandular hairs beneath; rachises hairy on both surfaces. Ultimate segments oblong to lanceolate; margins crenate or with a few sharp teeth towards the broadly rounded apex. Sori medial on veinlets, exindusiate. 

Found between Carbine Tableland and Shoalwater Bay QLD. Also in Asia, Malesia and the Pacific Islands.

Terrestrial in rainforest, usually in mid-montane to high montane areas.