Blechnum indicum
| Swamp Water Fern | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Swamp water fern near Botany Bay, Australia | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Pteridophyta |
| Class: | Pteridopsida |
| Order: | Athyriales |
| Family: | Blechnaceae |
| Genus: | Blechnum |
| Species: | B. indicum |
| Binomial name | |
| Blechnum indicum Burm.f. | |
Blechnum indicum or the swamp water fern is often seen growing on sandy soils in swampy areas. The specific epithet indicum is from Latin, revealing this plant was first collected in the East Indies, (Java). Indigenous Australians used the starchy rhizome as food.
This plant was collected with another swamp fern Cyclosorus interruptus by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander at Botany Bay in 1770.[1][2]
References
- ↑ Les Robinson - Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, ISBN 978-0-7318-1211-0 page 307
- ↑ "Doug Benson and Georgina Eldershaw. Backdrop to encounter: the 1770 landscape of Botany Bay,the plants collected by Banks and Solander and rehabilitation of natural vegetation at Kurnell".