Blechnum nudum

Fishbone Water Fern at Farrer Ridge

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Identification history

Blechnum nudum	10 Mar 2015	dcnicholls
Blechnum nudum	10 Mar 2015	galah681
Blechnum cartilagineum	9 Mar 2015	galah681

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6 comments

dcnicholls wrote:

10 Mar 2015

It looks a bit more like Blechnum nudum from the photographs. Check the base of the stipes (fronds). If there are black scales, that suggests B. cartilagineum, otherwise B. nudum. On e very distinctive feature of B. cartilagineum is that the pinnae at the base of the frond are quite long, and tend to point backward, away from the frond tip. B. nudum has much shorter initial pinnae and the are all more or less perpendicular to the stipe (stalk).

galah681 wrote:

11 Mar 2015

Probably Blechnum nudum. The stipes were light brown and some had dark brown colouring up the back of the fronds but no black scales.

galah681 wrote:

11 Mar 2015

I can't get really close to the fern as it is halfway up a bit of eroded creek bank with the creek running below it. I thought it could be B. cartilagineum as the fronds seemed quite wide at the base

dcnicholls wrote:

11 Mar 2015

I suspect it's B. nudum, but it would be useful to confirm the scales, and the presence (or otherwise) of long rear-ward pointing pinnae at the base of the frond. It's an interesting find in such an open location, regardless of species.

galah681 wrote:

28 Mar 2015

I managed to scramble over to the fern as the creek had dried up and photographed the stems. They were all dark reddish brown (see latest photo). I presume this means that it was definitely B. nudum, not B. cartilagineum.

dcnicholls wrote:

28 Mar 2015

That sounds right. If you get up to Oakey Creek on the northern slopes of the Tidbinbillas, you may find lots of B. cartilagineum (or there use to be)

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