| Huperzia phlegmaria | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
|
Rare (NCA)
|
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Phylum: | Lycopodiophyta |
| Class: | Lycopodiopsida |
| Order: | Lycopodiales |
| Family: | Huperziaceae |
| Genus: | Huperzia |
| Species: | H. phlegmaria |
| Binomial name | |
| Huperzia phlegmaria (L.) Rothm. [1] |
|
| Synonyms[2][3][4] | |
Huperzia phlegmaria (commonly known as either coarse tassel fern,[4] or common tassel fern[4]) is an epiphytic species of tassel fern native to rainforests in Madagascar, some islands in the Indian Ocean, Asia, Australasia and many Pacific Islands.
Huperzia phlegmaria is a variable species and plants from different regions can vary widely in stature. They can be identified by having petiolate sterile microphylls and small fertile microphylls on thin branching strobili.
Huperzia phlegmaria is native to east, west and south tropical Africa (in Cameroon; Comoros; Equatorial Guinea; Gabon; Ghana; Madagascar; Malawi; São Tomé & Príncipe; Sierra Leone; Tanzania (including the Zanzibar Archipelago); and Uganda); temperate and tropical Asia (in the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan; the southern Japanese prefecture of Kyushu, and the Ryukyu Islands; Malaysia; Sri Lanka; Taiwan; and Thailand); Australasia (in the northeast of Queensland in Australia; and New Zealand); and the northwest and southwest Pacific (in Fiji; Guam; and the Chuuk island group of Micronesia).[4] It is likely native, but yet to be reported, in other paleotropic locales.[4]