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Coral Fern
Coral
fern:
Gleichenia
dicarpa
- Coral Ferns are scrambling ferns, which form tangled
masses.
- The multi-forked fronds, which form almost geometrical
patterns, can grow to 4 m on a long, brown woolly stalk.
- They are found in large colonies in a variety of wet
sunny sites.
- They like to have their roots in water and their fronds
in the sun.
Courtesy of:
Environmental Protection Agency, Cairns.
Also known as the ‘Pouched Coral
fern’ or the ‘Tangle fern’, it is characterized by the
following:
-
Rhizome long-creeping, much
branched, slender, dark, wiry; fronds forked several times, up to 4 m tall;
pinnae up to 4 cm long, dull green, pinnatifid with numerous tiny pinnules;
pinnules 1.0 – 1.5 mm long, the margins strongly revolute, forming a
pouch; usually two sporangia in one corner or each pinnacle.
-
It is a common and very widespread
species that forms large tangled thickets in a variety of situations, but
usually where the roots are wet and the fronds are exposed to sun.
-
In some areas it forms colonies
and covers large areas in a tangled, Impenetrable mass.
Confusing
species:
-
G. microphylla.
-
G. rupestris.
Distinguishing
features:
Distribution:
-
Northern and Southern Qld, NSW,
Vic, Tas; also NZ, N Cal, south-east Asia to Malaysia.
Cultivation:
-
Resents disturbance, large
specimens are impossible to shift.
-
Very
small plants move easily and adapt well to pot or tub culture, making
attractive specimens.
-
Will not
tolerate the root system drying out.
-
Can be established in a wet sunny
position.
-
Easy to raise from spores.
Jones.
D.L, Clemesha. S.C., Australian Ferns and Fern Allies, 1980
Additional Information:
Courtesy of
Damon Ramsey
In the same group are the 'Club
Moss' or 'Coral Fern' Lycopodium spp. that look fairly similar, but grow
from the ground. Both groups develop sporangia at the end of their branches that
resembles little paws, and thus the scientific name Lycopodium means
'wolf's feet'.
Script: Courtesy of Damon Ramsey BSc.(Zool) Biologist Guide
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