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Image Credit:Anna Povey – with permission
Scientific Name: Cheilanthes austrotenuifolia
Common Name: green rockfern
Family Classification (Clade): Pteridophytes
Family: Adiantaceae
Form Description: Small fern; may reach 50cm but often much smaller. In all but very sheltered sites top growth collapses in summer.
Municipality
Plant Communities
Habitat Notes
Common and widespread in the eastern half of the state, from sea level to 300m but may be up to 680m. Grows in well drained and seasonally dry habitats in a thin soil layer over rock, in a rock-gravel matrix in dry sclerophyll forest or on the upper slopes of fern gullies. Also common on rocky outcrops in dry forest.
Site Tolerance
Dry, Moist, Rocky, Shady
Soil Tolerance
Nutrient-poor, Well-drained
General Notes
Prefers dolerite soils to granite.
Propagation Calendar
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Flowering Month
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Seed Collecting Month
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Sowing Month
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Cutting Month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Propagation Method
Seed Information
Seed Collection
Sori are on margins of segments protected by folded leaf margins. Collect spores when mature on the frond. Unripe sori are generally light green then change to yellowish-brown and to dark brown or black when mature. Place fronds, or portions of fronds, containing ripe spores in a paper bag and leave in a dry and draught-free place. Spores should begin to release immediately and all spores are released within days unless the species has tough, leathery fronds. Some species produce large quantities of spores from one frond, others require many fronds to produce similar quantities.
Seed Treatment Method
Standard Scatter seed thinly on to damp potting mix. Hold seed in place by covering with more potting mix to approximately the depth of the seed size.
Seed Treatment Notes
Use a moisture-retaining medium and a pot that allows drainage. Sterilise medium and container with boiling water. Sow spores by sprinkling a small amount onto the surface of the medium. Cover immediately with clean glass or plastic wrap. Leave in a warm area in strong, but not direct, sunlight. Specks of green appear after 2-4 weeks. These are the young prothalli. During the next 6-12 months they are at risk from overcrowding and pathogens. When the first fronds appear the sporelings can be slowly hardened by gradual removal of the container cover. Take care to avoid drying out. Prick out sporelings when the second frond appears.