Species profile—Huperzia tetrastichoides
Classification
Plantae (plants) → Equisetopsida (land plants) → Lycopodiaceae → Huperzia tetrastichoides
Species details
- Kingdom
- Plantae (plants)
- Class
- Equisetopsida (land plants)
- Family
- Lycopodiaceae
- Scientific name
- Huperzia tetrastichoides A.R.Field & Bostock
- WildNet taxon ID
- 32536
- Superseded by
- Phlegmariurus tetrastichoides (03/04/2019)
- Alternate name(s)
- bootlace tassel fern
Queensland square tassel fern - Conservation significant
- No
- Confidential
- Yes
- Endemicity
- Exotic
- Pest status
- Nil
- Short Notes
- dup-Field+ 1139-Holotype-Pteridophyta
- Description
- Huperzia tetrastichoides is an epiphytic fern; it lives on another plant without deriving nutrients from it. The branches are tufted, pendulous, branching one to several times and typically reaching up to 40cm long. The sterile leaves (lacking spores) are overlapping and arranged in four more or less opposite rows, widely spreading. The sterile leaves are thin but firm, ovate to lance-shaped, 5-12mm long by 2-6mm wide and deep green in colour. Sterile leaves gradually transition to fertile leaves.
The sporophylls (leaves bearing spores) are closely pressed against the stem, arranged in four rows and have a four-sided branch. They are ovate in shape, 4-6mm long and c.3mm wide at the base. The spore cases occupy one-quarter to a half of the sporophylls length. (Chinnock 1998; TSSC 2008; Field & Bostock 2008). - Habitat
- Huperzia tetrastichoides mostly grows high in the canopy of trees in complex vine forest and rainforest, over granite, basalt and other metamorphics to an altitude of 1100m above sea level. It occurs in habitat along creeks and on slopes and has not been recorded from the coastal flats. This species grows lower and probably shadier than other species such as H. phlegmaria sensu latu, also growing on granite rocks and on boulders near waterfalls. (TSSC 2008; Field & Bostock 2008; A. Field pers. comm. 2010).
- Behaviour
- Little is known on the ecology of the species.
- Reproduction
- Little is known on the biology of Huperzia tetrastichoides.
- Management documents
- Conservation and management of protected plants in trade in Queensland 1995-1998. Department of Environment.
- Notes
- Contributors: Peter Bostock 30/09/2009; Ailsa Holland 11/10/2009; Danielle Hansen 16/10/2009; Wayne Martin 29/01/2010
- References
- Chinnock, R.J. (1998). Huperzia, in McCarthy, P.M. (Ed), Flora of Australia Vol. 48. ABRS/CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, pp. 77-84.
Field, A.R. & Bostock, P.D. (2008). Huperzia tetrastichoides A.R.Field & Bostock (Lycopodiaceae) a newly recognised species of tassel fern from the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia. Austrobaileya 7(4), 711-715.
Herbrecs (2008). Huperzia tetrastichoides, in BriMapper version 3.2. Queensland Herbarium. Accessed January 2009.
Threatened Species Scientific Committee (2008). Commonwealth Conservation Advice on Huperzia prolifera. [Online]. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra. Accessed 02/10/2008. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/56635-conservation-advice.pdf.
Tindale, M.D. & Roy, S.K. (2002). A cytotaxonomic survey of the Pteridophyta of Australia. Australian Systematic Botany 15(6), 839-937. - Profile author
- Danielle Hansen (29/01/2010)
Other resources
Data source
This profile data is sourced from the QLD Wildlife Data API using the Get species by ID function used under CC-By 4.0.
https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species/?op=getspeciesbyid&taxonid=32536.
This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.
