Ferns and Fern Allies in the Canberra Region

Microsorum diversifolium - Kangaroo Fern

Microsorum diversifolium is locally common in the Canberra region. It prefers sunny spots, covering the tops and flanks of large granite boulders, for example in the higher reaches of ferny creeks in the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. It scrambles thickly over the sides of the boulders with the rhizomes sometimes hanging down to the creek.

A closer view of a single pinna. The fronds are quite variable. Most are divided with two or more branches, but some grow as single "straps" and resemble Blechnum patersonii from a distance. The species that grows wild in the A.C.T. has somewhat softer and thinner fronds than specimens found elsewhere, resembling Microsorum scandens (Fragrant Fern), also found in the region.

A close up view of the arrangement of the sporangia of M. diversifolium. The spore casings are set into an indentation in the underside of the pinna, which shows as a bump on the upper side of the frond.

This shows the bumps on the upper side of the frond. This and the previous picture are of a plant growing domestically, not the Canberra region variety. The fronds are somewhat more leathery but the morphology is similar.

David Nicholls
January 1998