Australian Tropical Ferns and Lycophytes - Online edition

Pteris platyzomopsis


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Close up of frond showing sori. © CSIRO
Close up of frond. © G. Sankowsky
Frond. © CSIRO
Habit. © CSIRO
Stipe, rhizome hairs. © G. Sankowsky
Rhizome. © CSIRO
Habit, rhizome hairs. © G. Sankowsky
Family

Pteridaceae

Botanical name

Pteris platyzomopsis Christenh. & H.Schneid.

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/240403

Description

Rhizome short-creeping, densely clothed with long, orange-brown or chestnut-brown unbranched uniseriate hairs. Stipe short, 1.5–15 cm long; stipe and rachis glossy, reddish brown, glabrescent; hairs appressed and spreading, uniseriate, sometimes gland-tipped, whitish. Fronds densely clustered, dimorphic; some fronds filiform, undivided, 4–10 cm long, 0.3–0.5 mm diam.; other fronds elongate, linear, pinnately divided, 14–60 cm long, 2–6.5 mm wide. Pinnules round to oblong, obtuse, 0.8–3 mm long, 0.8–2 mm wide, glabrous; margins strongly reflexed, prominently ciliate, forming a pouch-like cavity abaxially; adaxial surface with bright yellow waxy powder. Sporangia in zones in distal half of frond.

Distribution

Endemic to tropical and subtropical Australia occurring in WA, NT and QLD.

Habit and habitat

Terrestrial, usually in deep but oligotrophic sandy soils in open woodland.

Cultivation

Difficult to cultivate outside of its natural range and habitat. Plants resent disturbance, are difficult to propagate and as such are rarely available.

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).

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