Ophioglossum polyphyllum

Ophioglossaceae

Ophioglossum polyphyllum A.Braun

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/116356

Rhizome erect, cylindrical; roots very numerous, wiry, projecting downwards; old leaf bases persistent and forming a prominent brown sheath. Fronds 2 or 3, erect, robust, 9–13 cm long. Common stipe 3–6 cm long. Sterile lamina 3–8 cm long, 10–22 mm wide, very firm, often leathery, lanceolate, rarely ovate-elliptic, acute; base abruptly cuneate or rounded; venation with secondary areoles within primary areoles; areoles elongate with included free veinlets. Sporophore 10–25 mm long, on a stipe 2.5–9 cm long, adnate to sterile lamina, arising from it above the base; sterile tip 0.5–1 mm long.

Scattered across tropical and subtropical WA, NT and QLD, usually in inland areas.

Terrestrial, usually in sandy or clayey depressions in soil near seepages in open forest and woodland.

Ophioglossum polyphyllum can be readily identified by the presence of a papery brown leaf sheath underground at the base of the stipe.