Sp. Pl. 1063 (1753) APNI
Taxonomic status:Accepted
Occurrence status:Present
Establishment means:Native
Plants 3–15 cm tall, with 1–4 fronds; usually colonial. Rhizome erect, short, tuberous; roots few, brittle, spreading, sometimes with vegetative buds. Stipe fleshy, partly below ground, not persistent. Lamina 1–4 cm long, somewhat fleshy, lanceolate, lanceolate-ovate to short-elliptic; base narrowing to long-cuneate, but sometimes broadly cuneate; veins often indistinct, forming network of areoles, some including free vein endings. Spike 5–15 mm long, on stalk up to 8 cm long, growing from base of sterile lamina; 6–15 pairs of sporangia per spike.
Brid, CVU, DunT, EGL, EGU, GipP, Glep, Gold, GGr, HFE, HNF, HSF, LoM, MonT, MuF, MuM, NIS, OtP, RobP, SnM, VAlp, VRiv, VVP, WaP, Wim. All States. Almost cosmopolitan. Mostly in damp soil of open-forest, heathland or grassland, and often beside streams.
Ophioglossum lusitanicum dies back in winter, but even when fully grown and fronds at their largest, plants are often inconspicuous. Although the lamina is usually much longer than broad (mostly more than 3 times), populations from some parts of the state (e.g. mallee areas, Gippsland and around Melbourne) have a lamina only twice as long as broad. See also notes under O. reticulatum.
Bioregion | Occurrence status | Establishment means | |
---|---|---|---|
Lowan Mallee | present | native | |
Murray Mallee | present | native | |
Wimmera | present | native | |
Glenelg Plain | present | native | |
Bridgewater | present | native | |
Victorian Volcanic Plain | present | native | |
Victorian Riverina | present | native | |
Robinvale Plains | present | native | |
Murray Fans | present | native | |
Gippsland Plain | present | native | |
Otway Plain | present | native | |
Warrnambool Plain | present | native | |
Goldfields | present | native | |
Central Victorian Uplands | present | native | |
Greater Grampians | present | native | |
Dundas Tablelands | present | native | |
Northern Inland Slopes | present | native | |
East Gippsland Lowlands | present | native | |
East Gippsland Uplands | present | native | |
Highlands-Southern Fall | present | native | |
Highlands-Northern Fall | present | native | |
Monaro Tablelands | present | native | |
Highlands-Far East | present | native | |
Victorian Alps | present | native | |
Snowy Mountains | present | native |
State |
---|
Western Australia |
Northern Territory |
South Australia |
Queensland |
New South Wales |
Australian Capital Territory |
Victoria |
Tasmania |