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Australian ferns & fern allies |
Small to moderate size tufted, +/- pendulous epiphytes. Rhizome short-creeping or compact, fleshy, surrounded by a dense mass of water-retaining hairy roots, solenostelic or dictyostelic, densely covered by basally attached, entire or tothed, attenuate, clathrate scales. Fronds stipitate or subsessile, the stipe not articulate to the rhizome, fleshy, +/- winged, with 2 vascular strands, the lamina simple, entire, widening gradually from the base, linear-lanceolate to oblanceolate or spathulate, +/- fleshy, costa lacking or only evident at the base of the frond, veins anastomosing to form longitudinally elongate areoles without free included veinlets, or free in reduced species; epidermis with scattered elongate, thick-walled cells (spicular idioblasts). Sori elongate along most of the veins, in free, broken, forked or anastomosing lines, superficial or mostly immersed, sporangia on 3-seriate, apically widened stalks; exinsusiate, numerous branched, clavate or filiform paraphyses present; annulus longitudinal, interrupted, of c.14 thickened cells. Spores trilete, rarely monolete, globose, smooth, hyaline.
| 1a. | Paraphyses with apex thickened, clavate, obpyriform or capitate... |
2
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| Paraphyses with apex not or hardly thickened... |
3
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| 2a. | Fully developed fronds 2 cm or more broad... |
A. parvulum
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| Fully developed fronds 2 cm or more broad... |
3
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| 3a. | Frond sessile or short-stalked, ie. The unwinged part of the stipe very short with regard to the length of the whole frond... |
4
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| Frond rather long-stalked, ie. The unwinged part of the stipe not very short with regard to the length of the whole frond... |
A. plantagineum
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| 4a. | Fronds thinly chartaceous; paraphyses globose at apex... |
A. strictum
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| Fronds coriaceous; paraphyses clavate at apex... |
A. semicostatum
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| 5a. | Fully developed fronds at best c.2 cm broad... |
6
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| Fully developed fronds c. 2.5 - 10 cm broad... |
7
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| 6a. | Sori few in 2-6 lines... |
A. subfalcatum
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| Sori rather copious... |
A. coriaceum
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| 7a. | Sori +/- straight, continuous or interrupted, not reticulate... |
8
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| Sori mostly flexuose, short or long, reticulate... |
9
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| 8a. | Fronds ligulate-lanceolate; costa wanting or only distinct at the base of the frond... |
A. callifolium
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| Fronds spathulate-lanceolate; costa more distinct in the lower half of the frond... |
A. alatum
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| 9a. | Costa wanting, or present but then not black... |
A. reticulatum
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| Costa present, black... |
A. cumingii
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