Dendroconche ampla

Polypodiaceae

Dendroconche ampla (F.Muell. ex Benth.) Testo, Sundue & A.R.Field

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/51338026

Rhizome creeping or climbing, bearing dense indument of clathrate scales. Scales narrowly ovate to ovate, acute, 2–6 mm long, 1–2.5 mm wide, dark brown, spreading; margins entire. Fronds 16–65 (–81) cm long (simple fronds 5–33 cm long). Stipe 6.5–29 cm long, usually winged to the base. Lamina deeply pinnatifid, occasionally simple and entire, ovate to broadly ovate. Lateral segments 3–24 cm long, 1.1–5.2 cm wide (simple fronds 0.8–5 cm wide), broadest about the middle; margins entire, often ±undulate; apex acuminate or abruptly long-attenuate, narrow but usually rounded; apical segment similar in shape to the lateral segments but usually larger. Veins obvious; main lateral veins making a wide angle with the midrib of a laminal segment, with 2 rows of areoles between them. Sori linear, oblique to the midrib of a laminal segment, forming single continuous or ±broken lines between adjacent main lateral veins, mostly reaching from near costa (midrib in simple fronds) almost to margin. Spores translucent and colourless to pale brown, smooth or minutely echinate, 45–65 µm long, 25–42.5 µm wide. 

Endemic to NE QLD between McIlwraith Range and Paluma.

A subcanopy epiphyte in mesic lowland to lower montane vine forest. Usually seen climbing up the stems of small understorey trees.

Slow to propagate and establish but can be successfully grown in a hanging basket, on a slab or in a nest-fern in a moist tropical garden or fernery.

Similar to Dendroconche sayeri.

1a. Sori reaching from near midrib to near margin, stipe winged at base = Dendroconche ampla

1b. Sori short, centrally placed between midrib and margin, stipe not winged at base = Dendroconche sayeri

Also similar to Dendroconche scandens, but distinguished by its linear sori (cf. round to elliptical in D. scandens).