Dicksonia herbertii

Dicksoniaceae

Dicksonia herbertii W.Hill

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/102166

Rhizome erect or rarely decumbent, forming a trunk 2–4 m tall, accessory growths absent; base of stipes and trunk apex densely covered with stiff dull red-brown to grey-brown brittle irritant hairs to 4.5 cm long. Fronds in a spreading crown. Stipe to 20 cm long, verrucose, hairy. Lamina 3-pinnate, oblong-lanceolate, 2–3 m long, pale green to grey-green, dull on both surfaces, paler beneath, coriaceous; central pinnae longest, c. 20–35 cm long, reduced to each end; basal pinnae projecting stiffly inwards towards the centre of the crown; ultimate segments falcate, acute when sterile, obtuse when fertile. Sori 1.5–2 mm diam., solitary on each lobe.

Endemic to NE QLD between Mt Boolbon and Eungella.

Terrestrial in montane rainforest, usually in very wet areas.

Readily identified by its dense indument of purplish brown hairs on the stipe and new growth.