Sceptridium australe

Ophioglossaceae

Sceptridium australe (R.Br.) Lyon

Link to Australian Plant Name Index for publication details and synonyms: https://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/51347704

Rhizome erect, 1–5 cm long; roots thick, fleshy, contractile. Fronds 5–50 cm tall, fleshy. Common stipe 1–5 cm long. Sterile lamina borne on a stipe (1–) 5–18 (–27) cm long, ternate, 3-pinnate to 3-pinnate-pinnatifid, lanceolate-deltoid to broadly ovate-deltoid, 3–22 cm long, 4–25 cm wide. Ultimate segments variable, ovate to oblong or obovate, acute to obtuse; margins entire or finely toothed. Sporophore borne on a stipe 9–22 cm long, 2–3-pinnate, standing above the sterile lamina. Sporangia brown at maturity. 

E Australia from Herberton Range NE QLD to central coast of NSW. Also Malesia and New Zealand.

Terrestrial on rainforest margins and in wet sclerophyll and open forest.

Rare in tropical QLD.

Moderately difficult to propagate and establish but can be grown in a container of free draining mix in a well lit fernery.