Taenitis pinnata

Pteridaceae

Taenitis pinnata (J.Sm.) Holttum

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/66273

Rhizome short-creeping, c. 4 mm diam. Fronds to c. 80 cm long. Stipes to 70 cm long, closely spaced, in 2 ranks, often 1 cm or less apart. Lamina simple when young, 1-pinnate when mature. Pinnae very variable in number and width, thin, the edges crisped when dry, usually 2–4 (–7) pairs, c. 15–20 cm long, stalked except for 1 or 2 pairs of upper pinnae which may be broadly attached and decurrent along the main rachis; terminal pinna longer; sterile pinnae commonly 1–3 cm wide; fertile pinnae not or only slightly narrower (fronds with simple laminas sometimes fertile). Sori spreading intermittently along individual veins almost from midrib to margin, rarely on all sides of an areole; paraphyses with distal cells not much shorter than the basal ones.

Occurs in the tropical north of WA and NT and from Cape York to Shoalwater Bay in QLD. Also in Melanesia and Pacific Islands.

Terrestrial in swamp rainforest with a closed canopy or in riparian rainforest near freshwater streams.

Readily cultivated in a greenhouse or garden in a tropical climate. Grows well in a container or tub of moist free draining growing medium. May be difficult to transplant.

Key to Australian Taenitis spp.:

1a. Sori a continuous elongate medial line parallel to the midrib = Taenitis blechnoides (In Australia known only from Cape York Peninsula and NT)

1b. Sori discontinuous along lateral veins = Taenitis pinnata