Phlegmariurus delbrueckii

Lycopodiaceae

Phlegmariurus delbrueckii (Herter) A.R.Field & Bostock

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/51288377

Tea-Leaf Tassel-Fern

Epiphytic plants. Branches tufted, pendulous, branched 1–several times, to 60 cm long; sterile portion (including leaves) 1–1.5 cm diam. Leaves arranged in 4 rows, thin, firm, angled at 45–90° to axis, ovate, obtuse, entire, 5–7 mm long, 1.8–3 mm wide, pale green to yellowish green. Transition from sterile to sporogenous zone abrupt. Sporogenous zone 5–25 cm long, 2–3 mm diam., 1–several times forked. Sporophylls ovate-rhomboidal, acute, keeled, pouched at base, opposite, decussate, imbricate, 2.5–3.5 mm long, 1.5–2 mm wide. Sporangia one-third to half the sporophyll length. 

In QLD between the Windsor Tableland and Kirrama Range, usually above 800 m. Also in Asia and the Pacific.

A canopy epiphyte or lithophyte in montane rainforest.

Difficult to cultivate outside of its natural range or habitat. Plants can be grown in shallow hanging containers in a cool moist tropical fernery.

Can be distinguished from other Australian Phlegmariurus by the oval shaped lycophylls with a blunt apex.