Scientific Name: Lindsaea linearis

Common Name: screw fern

Family Classification (Clade): Pteridophytes

Family: Lindsaeaceae

Form Description: Fern with fronds to 25cm, erect, pale. Distinguishing features: the black or dark-brown axes of the lamina (broad part of the leaf), the narrow fertile fronds with screw-like pinnae. Sterile fronds shorter, broader.

Municipality
Break O’DayBurnieCentral CoastCentral HighlandsCircular HeadDerwent ValleyDevonportDorsetFlindersGeorge TownGlamorgan-Spring BayHuon ValleyKentishKing IslandKingboroughLatrobeLauncestonMeander ValleyNorthern MidlandsSouthern MidlandsTasmanWaratah-WynyardWest CoastWest Tamar
Plant Communities
Coastal VegetationDry Eucalypt ForestHeath
Habitat Notes

Common from coastal regions in Tasmania. Grows on buttongrass plains, heathland, dry sclerophyll forest and on high ground in Melaleuca or Leptospermum swamps.

Site Tolerance

Exposed, Moist, Waterlogged

Soil Tolerance

Clay, Nutrient-poor, Poorly-drained, Sandy

General Notes

Very difficult to establish or keep growing.

Propagation Calendar

  • Flowering Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
  • Seed Collecting Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
  • Sowing Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
  • Cutting Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Propagation Method
Specialist Method

Seed Information

Seed Collection

Sori marginal and elongated. 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.