Family: Psilotaceae
Plant: A relatively uncommon sprawling epiphytic or terrestrial plant that is a ‘living fossil’ as it is direct descendant of the earliest land plants.
Note: Although the common name of this primitive plant is Fork Fern, it is not a true fern as it has rudimentary leaf-like appendages rather than fronds. Neither is it a flowering plant, as it bears no flowers and still has a rhizome rather than a root system. These plants rely on fungi in the soil for nourishment.
Leaves: Pendulous, glossy pinnate, with linear segments about 2cm long and 2-5mm wide on stems up to 30cm long. The fertile leaves are stalked and divided almost to their base with their mid-veins ending in fine points.
Sori: At base of the fertile leaves.
Rhizome: Thick, irregular, fleshy and usually buried deeply in its host.
Habitat: It normally is found growing on Tree Ferns with its rhizome buried deep inside its host’s trunk. It can occasionally be found growing in crevices in damp, mossy rocks in rainforest.
Features: Growing on Tree Ferns and rocks. Pendulous forked, glossy leaves.
Name:
Tmesipteris From the Greek = 3-barbed (referring to its carpels).
truncata From Latin truncatus = to cut-off, truncated (referring to the leaf tips).
|
Type |
Fern |
|
|
Trunk |
No trunk |
|
|
Fronds |
Form |
Compound |
|
|
Length (Total) |
Medium |
|
|
Other Features |
Glossy |
|
Sori |
Arrangement |
Near base of fronds |
|
Rhizome |
Type |
Underground |
|
|
Other Features |
- |
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Habitat |
Rainforest |
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