Parapolystichum smithianum

Dryopteridaceae

Parapolystichum smithianum (Tindale) Labiak, Sundue & R.C.Moran

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/3679204

Rhizome erect, 2–4 cm thick, with persistent old stipes, scaly at the apex; scales 5–7 mm long, 0.5–1 mm wide, dark brown. Fronds tufted, crowded. Stipe 10–55 cm long, glossy, scaly at the base. Lamina 3–4-pinnate, pentagonal, 25–50 cm long, 23–50 cm wide, dark green and glossy above, dull and paler beneath, thin, glabrous except for the veins; rachis grooves densely hairy; underside of main rachis and pinna rachises glabrous. Ultimate segments oblong; margins thickened and sharply toothed; apex broadly obtuse. Sori medial on the minor veinlets or their branches; indusium brown to purplish with a darker centre, without coloured glands.

Endemic to the eastern coast of Australia between Eungella QLD and Lismore NSW.

Terrestrial in rainforest.