Pteris platyzomopsis

Pteridaceae

Pteris platyzomopsis Christenh. & H.Schneid.

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/240403

Rhizome short-creeping, densely clothed with long, orange-brown or chestnut-brown unbranched uniseriate hairs. Stipe short, 1.5–15 cm long; stipe and rachis glossy, reddish brown, glabrescent; hairs appressed and spreading, uniseriate, sometimes gland-tipped, whitish. Fronds densely clustered, dimorphic; some fronds filiform, undivided, 4–10 cm long, 0.3–0.5 mm diam.; other fronds elongate, linear, pinnately divided, 14–60 cm long, 2–6.5 mm wide. Pinnules round to oblong, obtuse, 0.8–3 mm long, 0.8–2 mm wide, glabrous; margins strongly reflexed, prominently ciliate, forming a pouch-like cavity abaxially; adaxial surface with bright yellow waxy powder. Sporangia in zones in distal half of frond.

Endemic to tropical and subtropical Australia occurring in WA, NT and QLD.

Terrestrial, usually in deep but oligotrophic sandy soils in open woodland.

Difficult to cultivate outside of its natural range and habitat. Plants resent disturbance, are difficult to propagate and as such are rarely available.