Scientific Name: Schizaea bifida

Common Name: forked combfern

Family Classification (Clade): Pteridophytes

Family: Schizaeaceae

Form Description: Fertile fronds unbranched (or branched once), short, thick, slightly flattened, smooth with large combs. Sterile fronds (rare) unbranched.

Height (m): 0.1 – 0.25

Municipality
Break O’DayBurnieDorsetFlindersGlamorgan-Spring BayHobartHuon ValleyKentishKing IslandKingboroughMeander ValleyNorthern MidlandsSorellTasmanWaratah-WynyardWest CoastWest Tamar
Plant Communities
Coastal VegetationDry Eucalypt Forest
Habitat Notes

Locally common below 200m in near-coastal sites. Grows in peaty, gravelly or sandy soils in dry sclerophyll forest or heathland.

Site Tolerance

Dry, Exposed, Moist, Shady

Soil Tolerance

Nutrient-poor, Sandy, Well-drained

General Notes

Transplanting of most species is very difficult as they do not tolerate disturbance of the root system which is often buried deep in the soil. Plants from a wet habitat over rock are most likely to succeed. Once established they can be maintained in conditions similar to the original habitat.

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 Treatment Notes

There is no record of success in spore raising because of the delicate fungal symbiosis.