Rock Felt Fern

Description:

Rock Felt Fern (aka Horseshoe Felt Fern) is a common fern of eastern Australia. It is an Epiphyte species, and these are sometimes called "air plants" because they don't root in soil. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphyte Usually found growing in moist and well shaded areas, on trees and rocks. It's a low creeping fern with two types of fronds. Both are fleshy and green, soft and slightly hairy like green felt - they have a succulent appearance. Sterile "juvenile" fronds 2cm round, and fertile fronds tongue shaped, up to 10cm long and 1.5cm broad. Round dark sori (spores) seen under the long fronds. Rhizomes orange brown in colour, long and creeping. The last photo also includes two young Staghorn Ferns (Platycerium superbum).

Habitat:

Spotted on the Mt. Mathieson Trail along the ridge line, growing on a large rocky outcrop. Well-shaded in this area, and backed by dense forest at Mt. Mathieson, Spicers Gap. This area is a section of Main Range National Park, a World Heritage Area. Australian native flora in a mix of dry eucalypt forests and subtropical rainforest.

Notes:

Not the most prolific specimen I have ever seen, but it was interesting none-the-less. I was sitting right next to it when the small, fleshy green fronds in the first photo caught my eye. So used to seeing the longer mature fronds, these small ones were quite captivating, hence the photos. I have never seen any species of rock felt fern with the grooves on the young fronds. They are usually flat and smooth. The slightly older ones look more like Pyrrosia rupestris, but the very young ones are not familiar. Two other species that also occur in Main Range National Park are Pyrrosia confluens var. confluens, and Pyrrosia confluens. Category Fern - Polypodiaceae - Pyrrosia... https://wetlandinfo.ehp.qld.gov.au/wetla...