Gold Coast
flora and fauna

A guide to the plants and animals that make our city one of the most biodiverse in Australia.
Phylum
PTERIDOPHYTA
Class
PTERIDOPSIDA
Family
DRYOPTERIDACEAE
Genus
Nephrolepis
Species
cordifolia
Has fauna
False
Mapping

Common Name
Fishbone Fern
Alternate name
Is historical
False
QLD
NSW
EPBC
APC
ROTAP
Comment
LGA significant
False
Stronghold population
False
Wildnet record
False
Museum listing
False
Introduced
False
Qld Census
True
Regionally significant/rationale
False
Restricted distribution/rationale
False
Abundance
Common
Historical abundance
Endemicity
Overall distribution
Local distribution
Scattered in all forest and soil types
Known location
Currumbin Valley, Upper Ormeau
Other locality
Riparian dependent
False
Wetland dependent
False
Forest dependent
False
Hollow dependent
False
Terrestrial
True
Estuarine
False
Marine
False
General ecology
Specific ecology
Habitat
Rainforest
Habitat comment
Threats
Management
Community type
Migratory
False
Migration notes
Feeding status
Feeding strategy
Feeding substrate
Diet
Reproduction
Spread by dumping garden waste and by spores carried by wind or water.
Breeding season
Active period
Active season
Social group
Behaviour
Range
Where fishbone fern appears to be growing naturally in undisturbed bushland and is not apparently a garden escapee it should not be removed.
Biology
Growth form
Fern
Description
A widely cultivated native plant now growing as a weed outside its pre-European range. Wiry, scaly stems branch and spread over the ground, sometimes bearing fleshy tubers. Can grow densely and expand rapidly to dominate the ground surface. Fronds erect or arching to 75cm long.
Taxonomy Comments
Species comments
Citations
Queensland Herbarium August 1999