Parapolystichum decompositum

Dryopteridaceae

Parapolystichum decompositum (R.Br.) Ching

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/96422

Trim shield fern

Rhizome short-creeping, 3–12 mm thick, densely scaly; scales 2–5 mm long, 0.5–1.2 mm wide, dark brown, glossy. Fronds crowded. Stipe 20–50 cm long, scabrous, densely scaly. Lamina 3-pinnate, pentagonal, 25–50 cm long, 20–50 cm wide, catadromous throughout, bright green and somewhat glossy above, dull beneath, moderately thin but stiff, glabrous or with sparse scattered hairs; rachises densely clothed with white or brown hairs; lower surface also scaly. Ultimate segments oblong with acuminate apices apiculate or mucronate; margins deeply cut into narrow pointed lobes. Indusium brown with a darker centre and coloured glands on margins.

In NEQ recorded from Windsor Tableland. Occurs in south-eastern QLD, eastern NSW, and far-eastern Vic.

Terrestrial in rainforest and moist to wet areas of open forest, especially at middle to high altitudes.