Pneumatopteris pennigera
(G.Forst.) Holttum Lime FernRhizome erect to oblique, covered in broad, brown scales. Fronds tufted, suberect or spreading, 40–110 cm long; stipe shorter than lamina, slightly succulent, glabrous, flattened above, shallowly grooved, dark brown towards base; scales near base and scattered along stipe, broadly ovate with attenuate tips. Lamina oblong-lanceolate, pinnate with pinnae deeply lobed, light green to mid-green, membranous to herbaceous, almost glabrous; rachis and pinna mid-rib deeply grooved, grooves not connecting, upper surfaces with short, brown, pointed unicellular hairs, lower surface of rachis also with scattered scales. Pinnae more or less oblong, dissected obliquely to about halfway into broad, rounded lobes with slightly crenate margins; lower pinnae well separated and progressively decreasing in length to become less than half as long as middle pinnae; veins free except for lowest veins in adjacent lobes which join to form single excurrent vein. Sori usually copious, round; indusium absent; spores dark brown.
GleP, Brid, VVP, WaP, DunT. Also Qld, Tas. (including King Is.). New Zealand. Rare in Victoria, confined to the lower tract of the Glenelg River and its tributaries, and stream banks near Port Campbell. It grows on damp limestone or calcareous soils.
Entwisle, T.J. (1994). Ferns and allied plants (Psilophyta, Lycopodiophyta, Polypodiophyta). In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 13–111. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
