Parapolystichum tinarooense

Dryopteridaceae

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

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/3679376

Broad shield fern

Rhizome erect, 2–5 mm thick, scaly at the apex; scales 1–2.5 mm long, 0.3–0.5 mm wide, brown to blackish. Fronds crowded. Stipe 10–22 cm long, thin, scaly at the base. Lamina 3–4-pinnate, ovate to narrowly triangular, 10–25 cm long, 6–25 cm wide, pale green, glossy, finely dissected, thin, glabrous except on the veins; rachises sparsely hairy. Ultimate segments linear to spathulate, c. 1 mm wide, obtuse, widely spaced; margins entire. Sori almost terminal on veinlets, 1 per ultimate segment, exindusiate. 

Endemic to NE QLD, restricted to Carbine Tableland, Mt Bartle Frere, Tinaroo Hills and Lamb Range.

Terrestrial or lithophytic, usually on rocks in small creeks in dense montane rainforest.