Communities

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Scientific Name

Tmesipteris elongata

Family Name

PSILOTACEAE

Common Name

Narrow fork-fern

Status

Height

stems 0.3m (30cm)

Flowers

None

Fruit

Spores

Form

Fern ally with thick fleshy rhizome usually buried deeply in host, stems; angular bearing simple ovate leaf-like appendages.

Municipalities

Break O'Day; Burnie; Central Coast; Circular Head; Derwent Valley; Dorset; Georgetown; Glamorgan-Spring Bay; Huon Valley; Kingborough; Waratah-Wynyard; West Coast

Communities

Rainforest

Habitat Notes

Uncommon in Tasmania. Largest populations in rainforests of the north west with only scattered occurrences elsewhere. Observed only as an epiphyte on Dicksonia and seems to favour drier microhabitats at lower altitudes than T. obliqua.

Site Tolerance

Moist; Shady

Frost Tolerance

Soil Tolerance

Epiphytic on dicksonia

General Notes

They have been successfully grown in inflated plastic bags with rhizomes covered by moist spaghum moss. Suitable below powerlines.

Propagation Details

Propagation Calendar

Flowering Months

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Seed Collecting Months

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Sowing Months

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Cutting Months

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Seed Information

Seed Collection

Sporangia in joined pairs borne on specialised bracts

Seed Treatment Method

Seed Storage Life

Viable Seeds Per Gram

Seed Treatment Notes

Germination Time

Suitable for Direct Seeding

Cuttings

Expected Time to Take Root

Expected Time to Plant Out

Propagation by Division N.B. Transplant only from nearby to avoid disease.

Cutting Notes

Rhizomes are very brittle and resent disturbance. They seem to do best when grown on sections of tree-fern and require plenty of water, shade and humidity.