Doodia aspera

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information

Wikipedia links:       Monilophytes > Polypodiales > Blechnaceae > Doodia  aspera

Other links:    

Species:     D aspera   D caudata   D media

Plant  information

Common name:         Prickly Rasp Fern

Conservation status: . . .

Etymology:   

• From Latin blachnon, a fern, from Greek blēchnon

• The genus is named for Samuel Doody, curator of the Chelsea Physic Garden

• The species name aspera is the feminine form of the Latin adjective asper "rough", referring to the rachis and stipe

Spores:                            

Leaves:         

• These fronds are usually 20 to 45 cm long

• The frond segments have dentate (toothed) margins

• They measure around 6 cm long, and in a zig-zag pattern up the stem

• Both the fronds and stipe are covered in small bumps, giving them a rough texture

• When young, the fronds are a pinkish colour which changes to green with maturity

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

• Has black scaled rhizome

Habit:        

•  It is a terrestrial fern with reddish new growth

• Fronds rise vertically from the black scaled rhizome

• It can grow as scattered plants or as dense colonies

Habitat:   

• It is found in rainforest and dry open forest

• Often seen in rainforest margins or eucalyptus forest

•  It grows on sandstone and igneous (granite and basalt) substrates, in sand- or gravelly soils

• In tall open forest in the Sydney region, it is an understory ground cover in damp areas underneath such trees as Sydney blue gum (Eucalyptus saligna), mountain gum (E. deanei), river peppermint (E. elata) and forest red gum (E. tereticornis)

Distribution:                  

• A widespread and common plant, growing in eastern Australia

• Found in Victoria, NSW and Queensland

• It is particularly common in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney

• It is also found on Norfolk Island

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • It was one of the many species first described by the botanist Robert Brown in his 1810 work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen, and it still bears its original name

• Ecology

  • Tolerant of short dry periods, it can be found in full sun as well as shade

  • The spores are dispersed by wind

• Cultivation

  • Readily adaptable to cultivation, it grows in shade or sun with adequate moisture on acidic soils with some organic content

  • Drainage needs to be sufficient to prevent waterlogging

  • The pinkish to reddish new growth is an attractive feature

  • The fern is readily propagated by collecting and germinating the spores, or dividing the rhizomes

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doodia_aspera (2023)