branched comb fern | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Division: | Polypodiophyta |
Class: | Polypodiopsida |
Order: | Schizaeales |
Family: | Schizaeaceae |
Genus: | Schizaea |
Species: | S. dichotoma |
Binomial name | |
Schizaea dichotoma | |
Synonyms | |
Acrostichum dichotomum L. |
Schizaea dichotoma, the branched comb fern, of the Comb Fern Family (Schizaeaceae) is a small plant usually found in open forest or heath, often on sandy soils. The habit is mostly upright, with up to 20 segments, twice or more times branched, or dichotomous. Found in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Malesia and islands in the Pacific Ocean. A low plant, 20 to 40 cm tall. [1] The specific epithet dichotoma is derived from Greek, meaning "twice cut", referring to the branched nature of the fronds. [2] [3] This plant first appeared in scientific literature in the year 1753 as Acrostichum dichotomum, published in the Species Plantarum by Carl Linnaeus. Unusual for a fern, it is said to be a saprophyte facilitated by a fungal symbiote. [4]
The Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) (ANPSA) is a federation of seven state-based member organisations for people interested in Australia's native flora, both in aspects of conservation and in cultivation.
Drosera binata, commonly known as the forked sundew or fork-leaved sundew. It is a large, perennial sundew native to Australia and New Zealand. The specific epithet is Latin for "having pairs" - a reference to the leaves, which are dichotomously divided or forked.
Utricularia dichotoma, commonly known as fairy aprons, is a variable, perennial species of terrestrial bladderwort. It is a widespread species with mauve or purple fan-shaped flowers on a slender stalk and usually grows in wet locations.
Callitris verrucosa, also known as the mallee pine, is a species of conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is found only in Australia. The plant has a green-grey colour, rigid branches and can reach a height of 8 metres (26 ft). It has a slow growth rate.
The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 21,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwana, and below the family level has a highly endemic angiosperm flora whose diversity was shaped by the effects of continental drift and climate change since the Cretaceous. Prominent features of the Australian flora are adaptations to aridity and fire which include scleromorphy and serotiny. These adaptations are common in species from the large and well-known families Proteaceae (Banksia), Myrtaceae, and Fabaceae.
Pimelea flava is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a shrub with narrowly elliptic to egg-shaped leaves arranged in opposite pairs, and compact clusters of 9 or more flowers with 2 or 4 elliptic to circular involucral bracts at the base. The flowers and bracts are white or yellow, depending on subspecies.
Gleichenia is a genus of ferns. Its closest relative is the genus Stromatopteris, restricted to New Caledonia.
Schizaeaceae is a family of ferns in the order Schizaeales. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, it includes only two genera. Alternatively, two families kept separate in PPG I, Lygodiaceae and Anemiaceae, may be included in Schizaeaceae so that the family has four genera. In this approach, the Schizaeaceae of PPG I is treated as the subfamily Schizaeoideae.
Doodia aspera, commonly known as prickly rasp fern, is a widespread and common plant, growing in eastern Australia. Often seen in rainforest margins or eucalyptus forest in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, it is a terrestrial fern with reddish new growth.
Christella dentata is a small fern with widespread distribution in Australia and islands in the south Pacific Ocean. There are many local common names. In New South Wales it grows north from the southern Illawarra region and is known as binung.
Gleichenia dicarpa, commonly known as pouched coral fern or tangle fern, is a small fern of the family Gleicheniaceae found in eastern Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. It forms tangled thickets in wet places such as swamps and riverbanks.
Gleichenia microphylla is a small fern growing in Australia and New Zealand.
Schizaea bifida, better known as the forked comb fern is a fairly common fern found in eastern and southern Australia. Also seen in New Zealand and New Caledonia. In New South Wales it is found near the coast in heathland and eucalyptus woodland. Seen as a low plant, 10 to 35 cm tall. The generic name Schizaea is from the Greek, meaning “to cleave or split”. Bifida means split in two.
The Sea Acres National Park is a national park that is located in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 76-hectare (190-acre) park is situated near the town of Port Macquarie. The park is a popular tourist area with a 1.3-kilometre (0.81 mi) long boardwalk through a remnant of seaside rainforest. There is also an education centre and cafe. The park was initially declared as a nature reserve in 1987; and gazetted as a national park in October 2010.
Schizaea pusilla, the little curlygrass fern, is a species of fern in the family Schizaeaceae. It was first described by the German-American botanist Frederick Traugott Pursh in 1814. It is native to New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia in Canada, the French overseas territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and North Carolina in the United States of America. It is listed as endangered by the state of New York.
The National Herbarium of New South Wales was established in 1853. The Herbarium has a collection of more than 1.4 million plant specimens, making it the second largest collection of pressed, dried plant specimens in Australia, including scientific and historically significant collections and samples of Australian flora gathered by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander during the voyage of HMS Endeavour in 1770.
Schizaea rupestris is a small Australian fern. Most populations are in found in the ranges near Sydney. However, it also occurs near Woolgoolga and Western Australia.
Schizaea fistulosa, the narrow comb fern is a small plant found in a variety of habitats. Widespread but a fairly uncommon fern found in southern Australia. Also seen in other countries such as New Zealand, Chile and New Caledonia. A low plant, 4 to 30 cm tall in moist situations. The specific epithet fistulosa means "tube shaped".
Boronia dichotoma is a plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, slender perennial herb or shrub with simple leaves and pink, four-petalled flowers. The species is characterised by sticky glandular hairs on the pedicels.