Australian Tropical Ferns and Lycophytes - Online edition

Tomophyllum walleri

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Close up of frond showing sori. © CSIRO

Family

Polypodiaceae

Botanical name

Tomophyllum walleri (Maiden & Betche) Parris

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/215193

Description

Rhizome radial, producing whorls of fronds. Frond lamina 2.9–9.3 cm long, 0.9–3 cm wide; pinnae 10–23 pairs; longest pinnae 5–19 mm long, 1–4 mm wide, apically obtuse to acute, thinly coriaceous; margins entire or lobed; hairs 0.1–0.4 mm long, whitish to medium red-brown, catenate, simple, glandular, abaxially on rachis and lamina, with whitish to pale red-brown forked hairs abaxially on rachis. Sori on 2–15 pairs of pinnae.

Distribution

Endemic to NE QLD from a few locations between Mt Finnegan and Herberton Range.

Habit and habitat

Epiphytic or lithophytic in high rainfall upper montane rainforest.

Similar species

Tomophyllum walleri can be distinguished from Ctenopterella by the irregularly lobulate margins in fertile fronds.

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