Ampelopteris prolifera

Thelypteridaceae

Ampelopteris prolifera (Retz.) Copel.

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/86242

Rhizome short-creeping, c. 1 cm diam., scaly; scales ovate, dark brown, with branched or unbranched acicular hairs and short-stalked glandular hairs. Fronds 1-pinnate, of two forms: fronds of indefinite apical growth with numerous buds on the rachis, each at base of a primary pinna and developing into new plants; fronds with terminal pinna (usually young plants) lacking buds. Lamina of proliferous fronds linear, often up to 5 m long; primary pinnae to 20 cm long, 2 cm wide, often with a short stalk, with truncate to subcordate bases and rather evenly attenuate apices, lobed to a depth of c. 2 mm (one-fifth distance to costa); pinnae of non-proliferous fronds sometimes fertile from a size of 3.5 cm long and 0.8 cm wide; costules 3–4 mm apart; veins 8–12 pairs, 4 or more pairs anastomosing; rachis with forked or branched unicellular hairs; costae with a few antrorse unicellular hairs above and with a few small peltate scales fringed with hairs below; pinnae otherwise ±glabrous. Sori exindusiate, round or somewhat elongate, on distal parts of veins; sporangial stalks with 1 or a few hairs which terminate in a red or orange ovoid or spherical glandular cell; paraphyses similar to stalk hairs.

Scattered across tropical and subtropical Australia. Also in Malesia.

Terrestrial or semi-aquatic on the edge of watercourses in rainforest, wet-sclerophyll forest and open woodland

This once locally common species has declined dramatically in some areas of NE QLD, possibly due to changes in hydrology and the introduction of grasses that invade riparian areas.