Pteridium esculentum—Bracken—DENNSTAEDTIACEAE.
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Habitat—Grows in a variety of habitats, from shade to full sun. Dry sclerophyll forest, margins of rainforest, cleared land, very common on sandy soil. Distribution— Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. Also in New Zealand and Islands in the Pacific. Description— Terrestrial fern spreading into a large colony. Rhizome very long—creeping,2 to 10 mm diam., densely covered with dark, red—brown simple hairs Local occurrences—
Australis Resort,
Barrington/Gloucester Tops,
Bennett Head,
Black Head,
Black Head Beach,
Black Head Flora Park,
Booti Hill,
Brown's Creek Bicentennial Gardens,
Burgess Beach,
Burgess Road,
Cape Hawke,
Cellito,
Charlotte Head,
Cliff Road,
Copeland,
Crowdy Bay National Park,
Darawank Nature Reserve and Wetland,
Diamond Beach,
Diamond Beach LRF,
Dixon Property,
Elizabeth Beach,
Forster Cemetery,
Forster/Tuncurry Streets,
Golden Ponds Reserve,
Goldens Road Wetlands,
Great Lakes College-Tuncurry Campus,
Karloo Street Reserve,
Knappinghat Nature Reserve,
Little Street,
Ohmas Bay,
One Mile Beach,
Pebbly Beach,
Penenton Creek and Wetlands,
Red Head,
Reservoir Hill Reserve,
Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney,
Saltwater Nature Reserve,
Sea Acres National Park,
Second Head,
Seven Mile Beach and Green Point,
Stephen Street Reserve,
Tern Island,
The Sanctuary,
Tiona,
Tonie's Gully,
Tuncurry Dunes and Heath,
Tuncurry Flora Park,
Waitui Falls,
Wallamba Cove,
Wallamba River Area,
Wallingat National Park and
Zamia Place Reserve.
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Fronds.—Fronds erect, stiff, mostly 0.6 to 1.5 m high; stipe brown; minor rachises with wing—like lobes between segments; lamina dark green above but paler below, older fronds glabrous above with fine hairs below, broad—triangular in outline, 3 to 4—pinnate; ultimate segments narrow, entire or with a few basal lobes. |
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Sori.—± continuous beneath margins; indusium 2—lipped, outer lip green, inner lip pale brown. |