Hymenophyllum samoense

Hymenophyllaceae

Hymenophyllum samoense Baker

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/80483

Rhizome slender, glabrescent. Fronds 4–20 cm long. Stipe 1–5.5 cm long, winged in the upper half to three-quarters; wing undulate or crisped. Lamina oblong, deeply 3-pinnatifid, with some segments again forked, 3–15 cm long, 3–4.5 cm wide, glabrous; wing of main rachis plane to crisped, entire. Ultimate segments 5–8 mm long, 0.8–2 mm wide, obscurely toothed; teeth most prominent near segment apices, occasionally entire. Sori numerous, often in adjacent pairs, borne on apices of lateral ultimate segments, with sterile apex of each primary pinna normally projecting beyond outermost sori of the pinna; involucre oval to oblong, bilabiate, divided almost to the base, 1.5–2 mm long, 0.8–2 mm wide, as wide as or wider than the segments; margins entire to irregularly toothed; receptacle included. 

Occurs in NE QLD between Mt Finnegan and Paluma. Also in the Pacific Islands.

Epiphytic on tree trunks or lithophytic on granite boulders close to streams in montane rainforest.

Easily confused with (and probably conspecific with) Hymenophyllum javanicum which can be distinguished by the stipe being winged almost to the base (cf. winged only in the upper half to three-quarters in H. samoense).