#australian fern

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#2189 - Asplenium australasicum - Bird's Nest Fern

A very large epiphytic fern endemic to Australia, with a somewhat complicated taxonomic history, not helped by the fact that it's anatomy is so simple that there's not much to distinguish it from related species. For example, Japanese ferns which were considered to be A. australasicum were found to be so genetically distinct they got renamed A. setori. It's also very similar to Asplenium nidus, which unhelpfully is also called Bird's Nest Fern, and is found from east tropical Africa, across Asia to Japan, and in northern Australia and various Pacific Islands.

The fern can grow to over a meter and a half across, collecting falling plant debris in the middle of the rosette - and also acquiring snakes, which can be a surprise for fern collectors. A popular ornamental plant, where given sufficient drainage, and grown as a vegetable for the growing fronds in Taiwan.

Mascot, Sydney, New South Wales

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#1411 - Asplenium difforme - Irregular Spleenwort

Found among the rocky outcrops in the cliffs overlooking Bare Island, Botany Bay, Sydney. It’s entirely likely that Sir Joseph Banks and his fellow botanical lunatics would have noticed this species as they ransacked the place, but it first appeared in scientific literature in the year 1810, in the Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae, published by the prolific Scottish botanist, Robert Brown.

Its habitat is cracks in rocky headlands beside the sea. Check. Its found in eastern Australia and Norfolk Island. Check. Its fronds are thick and waxy to protect it from sea spray. Check again. The specific epithet difforme refers to the irregular shape of the fronds.

Spleenworts earned their common name via the Doctrine of Signatures, a once widespread belief that the medical applications of a plant were determined by shape. Hence other plant names, like liverwort. In the case of these ferns, the sori, or sporing structures under the fronds, are shaped like spleens. 

The spleenworts are also famous for their genetics, which can be most easily described as unrestrained bullshit. Even the chloroplast genome has evolved in complex and highly unusual ways that make a laughing stock of traditional cladistic methods, and even very sophisticated computational phylogenetics yield little information on the relationships between species. In addition to hybridization running rampant in parts of this genus, some species like the mother spleenwort mainly reproduce asexually, and while most species are diploid or tetraploid, some like A. shuttleworthianum are octoploid.

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#2131 - Cheilanthes sieberi - Cloak Fern 

AKA Poison Rock Fern, Mulga Fern, Sieberi's Lip Fern, Cheilanthes erecta, Cheilanthes preissiana, Cheilanthes tenuifolia subsp. sieberi and Hemionitis sieberi. The entire Cheilanthes genus is an ungodly taxonomic mess going by genetic evidence etc, but until someone can go over them properly this species is staying in the genus.

A small fern rarely exceeding 25cm in height, widespread in Australia, New Zealand and nearby islands, and tolerant of a surprising wide range of climate, from arid areas to annual rainfall of over a meter and a half. In deserts it grows in shaded gullies.

Consumption of this fern can cause fatal health issues for sheep and cattle, especially if they eat the ferns over a prolonged period.

Cooma, NSW

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Crazy timelapse of a Growing Fern over an extended period of several days from the guys at THE UPTHINK LAB in Atlanta.

VIMEO:

As a side-project for April 2011 we chose to document the grandeur of a growing tree fern. Using two Canon D-SLRs, a motion control time-lapse dolly, custom motion control focus control (BETA), fluorescent lights, and our green thumbs we captured 17 days of the growing fern. Each shot represents 24-48 hours of growth. Original music composition by our friend, Michael Wynne. Check him out @ michaelwynne.net. Special thanks to Oscar @ aperturent.com. Enjoy...