Lomariopsis kingii

Lomariopsidaceae

Lomariopsis kingii (Copel.) Holttum

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/116449

King's Climbing Fern

Rhizome c. 1 cm thick, woody, long-creeping to high-climbing; scales ovate, 5–10 mm long, brown, with broadly rounded bases. Fronds moderately crowded, erect to arcuate, dimorphic. Stipe 6–20 cm long, scaly at the base. Lamina, juvenile fronds simple 15–30 cm long, 1.5–3 cm wide, mature sterile fronds compound, 12–50 cm long; lower pinnae longest. Sterile pinnae 12–25 cm long, 1.5–3.2 cm wide, coriaceous, dark green above, paler beneath; margins slightly irregular; apex acute to acuminate; lower pinnae stalked; upper ones nearly sessile. Lamina of fertile fronds smaller than sterile fronds; pinnae c. 2 mm wide. 

Occurs in the Wet Tropics QLD between Bloomfield and Johnstone Rivers. Also in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.

Terrestrial, lithophytic or hemi-epiphytic in rainforest, usually climbing up tree trunks in rainforest at low altitudes.

This species has variable frond shapes according to habit and habitat.