| TEXT: Blechnum penna-marina (Blechnaceae) Alpine
water fern This species is a reasonably common inhabitant of most of our
alpine ecosystems. It is strongly rhizomatous and the young growth can
be a most attractive purple/red colour. An easy plant to grow in the garden
if provided with a bit of shade. The specimen in this photo was growing
at the treeline on Mt Barrow (Tasmania) just before a bolster heath community.
Propagation is either by spores which is easy or from rhizome divisions
in autumn which is easier. The species seems to me to be less frequent
in alpine sedgeland and alpine heaths probably on account of the impact
of cattle grazing in our highlands. Submitted by: John Dudley |
