Cyrtomium falcatum.
Jaspanese Holly Fern.
Division Pteridophyta > Order Polypodiales > Family Dryopteridaceae.
There are about 20 to 25 species with one, C. falcatum, naturalised in Australia including in Queensland.
It is widely cultivated.
It forms small clumps on soil or rocks.
A short, erect rhizome densely covered with wide, brown, fringed scales up to 2 cm long.
Frond stalks are about 25 – 30 cm long, brown and deeply ridged.
Stalks, and the main frond midrib, have similar scales to the rhizomes.
Frond laminae are triangular, up to 45 cm long and 20 cm wide.
The upper surface is dark green and shiny, the lower surface is paler.
Sterile and fertile fronds are similar.
Laminae are once divided with up to 15 pairs of lateral segments and 1 terminal.
The stalked lateral leaflets, up to 10 cm long and 4 cm wide, are sickle-shaped.
The lower side of the base is round and the upper side can be lobed.
The margins are variable – smooth, wavy or with blunt or pointed teeth.
The terminal leaflet is entire or split in 1 to 3 places about half way to the midrib.
Its base is unequal, the sides may be wavy and the tip pointed.
The central vein or midrib is prominent and the smaller veins form a network.
Sporangia are in circular sori on the underside of fertile frond segments.
They can be in 2 irregular rows on either side of the midrib or scattered.
The pale brown indusium is round and attached by a central stalk.
J.F.
