Grammitis wattsii

Grammitis wattsii is a fern in the family Polypodiaceae. The specific epithet honours the Reverend W. W. Watts (1856–1920), a prominent Australian cryptogamist active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.^[1]

Grammitis wattsii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Polypodiophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Polypodiales
Suborder:	Polypodiineae
Family:	Polypodiaceae
Genus:	Grammitis
Species:	G. wattsii
Binomial name
Grammitis wattsii Copel.[1]

Description

The plant is an epiphytic fern. It has an erect or shortly creeping rhizome with dense, chestnut brown, narrow pointed scales. Its simple fronds combine a 0.5–5 cm long stipe with a narrowly elliptic-linear lamina 5–20 cm long and 0.4–1.2 cm wide.^[1]

Distribution and habitat

The fern is endemic to Australia’s subtropical Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea; it is confined to the cloud forest on the upper slopes and summits of Mounts Lidgbird and Gower.^[1]