Lindsaea media

Lindsaeaceae

Lindsaea media R.Br.

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/113397

Rhizome short-creeping, 1–1.5 mm diam.; scales to c. 1 mm long, yellowish. Fronds monomorphic. Stipes closely spaced or clustered, 10–40 cm long, stramineous to pale brown. Lamina 2-pinnate, narrowly ovate, oblong or triangular, 10–30 cm long, 4–17 cm wide. Pinnae widely spreading to ascending, ±opposite; upper pinnae gradually reduced, with a ±pinnatifid apex; secondary basal pinnae lobed, pinnatifid or pinnate. Pinnules subsessile, dissected or not, to 4–10 mm long and 3.5–6 mm wide, flabellate to diamond-shaped with the latter attached by the lower inside corner; large dissected pinnules incised on both sides; smaller pinnules dissected on upper side only; fertile pinnules with irregular margins. Veins free or irregularly anastomosing, forked 1–3 times. Sori continuous, except at marginal incisions; indusium 0.3–0.5 mm wide, pale, extending to or beyond margin, uneven to deeply incised. Spores trilete, brown, smooth. 

NE QLD from Torres Strait to Paluma and Arnhem Land in NT. Also in Malesia.

Terrestrial in vine forest, open sclerophyll forest and heath.

The combination of a broad tripinnate frond, yellow-brown stipe and pinnae 4–10 mm long distinguish this species from other Australian Lindsaea.