Parapolystichum microsorum

Dryopteridaceae

Parapolystichum microsorum (Endl.) Labiak, Sundue & R.C.Moran

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/3678518

Creeping shield fern

Rhizome long-creeping, 1.5–7 mm thick, often branched, scaly towards the apex; scales 1–4 mm long, 0.5–1.5 mm wide, dark brown to blackish. Fronds sparse to moderately crowded. Stipe 10–50 cm long, densely hairy throughout, scabrous and scaly towards the base. Lamina 3–4-pinnate, pentagonal, 18–50 cm long, 12–47 cm wide, pale green and scarcely glossy, paler and dull beneath, thin, catadromous at the base, anadromous towards the apices of primary pinnae; upper surface glabrous; lower surface sparsely to densely hairy; rachises glabrous to densely hairy on both surfaces. Ultimate segments ovate to oblong; margins thickened with broad toothed lobes; apex broadly obtuse. Indusium fawn with a darker centre, glabrous or hairy, with coloured glands. 

Endemic to eastern Australia from Windsor Tableland QLD to East Gippsland Vic. Also Lord Howe and Norfolk Island.

Terrestrial in rainforest. In NE QLD this is usually a montane species.