PLANT DESCRIPTIONS
Note: Declared Plant = DP, Pest Plant = PP
Ferns
ADIANTACEAE - Maidenhair Family
Ceratopteris thalictroides (water fern) is a native of the Kimberley that has been introduced to Millstream. It grows either free-floating or rooted in mud. There are two types of fronds, the sterile ones, which have broad lobes, can be floating or submerged while fertile fronds, which have long, narrow segments, are emergent.
Cyrtomium falcatum (holly fern) is a garden escape on walls and occasionally cliffs on the Swan River estuary. It has dark green pinnate fronds with irregularly lobed leaflets. Native to Japan.
Hypolepis rugosula is a native to eastern Australia that is cultivated in gardens in Western Australia and has naturalised at Lesmurdie Falls and Pemberton. It has a typical multipinnate fern frond growing from a rhizome. In its native area it forms large colonies in gullies or open swampy places and is known to be a problem in cultivation as it is an aggressive coloniser.
AZOLLACEAE - Azolla Family
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Azolla filiculoides (azolla) is a small, branched floating plant, with tiny fronds 1-2mm long, often forming extensive mats on still or very gently moving water. Individual plants are up to 3cm across. The fronds may turn dark red in intense sunlight. In Western Australia, it is recorded only from the Metropolitan area but is perhaps native. |
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CYATHEACEAE - Tree Fern Family
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Sphaeropteris cooperi (was Cyathea cooperi) (rough tree fern) can grow up to 10m tall, and is mostly found in fertile, moist soil along streams. A garden escape, found in a few areas between Perth and Albany. It is native to eastern Australia where it inhabits gullies in warm coastal rainforest. |
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DENNSTAEDTIACEAE - Bracken Family
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Pteridium esculentum (bracken) is native to Western Australia, but can be a serious weed in poorly managed paddocks in the wetter south-west. It has large fronds, up to 2m high, arising from a creeping rhizome. |
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SALVINIACEAE - Salvinia Family
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Salvinia molesta (salvinia) DP.This perennial, free-floating fern is a major threat to aquatic habitats. It is typically found on still bodies of fresh or slightly brackish water, where it can form dense masses. Infestations have occurred around Perth and Harvey, probably where aquaria have been emptied into water bodies, but eradication efforts have largely been successful. Introduced from South America as a pond ornamental. |
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OLEANDRACEAE - Fishbone Fern Family
Nephrolepis cordifolia (fishbone fern) is a hardy rhizomatous perennial, often also with tubers, which grows from dumped garden refuse along creeks in the Metropolitan area. It has pinnate arching fronds to 1m. Native to eastern Australia.
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