Phlegmariurus lockyeri

Lycopodiaceae

Phlegmariurus lockyeri (D.L.Jones & B.Gray) A.R.Field & Bostock

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/242306

Lockyer's Tassel-Fern

Epiphytic or lithophytic plants. Branches tufted, at first erect, but becoming pendulous, branching 1–4 times in the distal half, to 40 (–70) cm long, sometimes rooting at tips. Leaves arranged in 6 rows in alternating whorls of 3, spreading, angled at 60–80° to axis, thin but firm, narrowly ovate to lanceolate, acute to attenuate, entire, 9–14 mm long, 2.5–5 mm wide, dark green, shining at least when dry. Transition from sterile to sporogenous zone gradual. Sporogenous zone 4–8 cm long. Sporophylls imbricate, lanceolate, attenuate, entire, keeled, angled at 35–40° to axis, 5–7 mm long, c. 2 mm wide. Sporangia one-quarter of the sporophyll length.

Endemic to NE QLD between the Windsor Tableland and Kirrama Range, usually above 800 m.

A canopy epiphyte or lithophyte in montane rainforest.

Named after forester Reg Lockyer who collected some of the earliest specimens.

Best cultivated in a hanging container of coarse free draining mix in a cool tropical fernery.

Can be distinghished from Phlegmariurus tetrastichoides by having flat non-keeled lycophylls.