Angiopteris evecta, commonly known as the Giant Fern, is a rare plant occurring in eastern and northern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Also found growing in nearby islands such as New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

 and various places in Polynesia

Polynesia

Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...

 and Melanesia

Melanesia

Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia...

. Listed as endangered by extinction in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, where it has been recorded growing in sub tropical rainforest, in the valley of the Tweed River. It is an invasive species in Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

.

Angiopteris evecta is the type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 of the genus Angiopteris

Angiopteris

Angiopteris is a genus of huge evergreen ferns from the Marattiaceae family, found throughout the paleotropics from Madagascar to the South Pacific islands...

. It was originally described as Polypodium evectum by Georg Forster

Georg Forster

Johann Georg Adam Forster was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist, and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father on several scientific expeditions, including James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific...

 in 1786, before being reclassified and given its current binomial name in 1796 by Georg Franz Hoffmann

Georg Franz Hoffmann

Georg Franz Hoffmann was a German botanist and lichenologist, who was born January 13, 1760 in Marktbreit, Germany, and died March 17, 1826 in Moscow, Russia.-Professional career:...

. The species name is the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

adjective evectus "swollen" or "inflated". Common names include giant fern , king fern, oriental vessel fern, and mule's foot fern.

The huge mature fronds measure up to 8 metres (25 ft) long. They originate from a large thick rootstock, up to 80 cm (32 in) high.

Angiopteris evecta can be grown in well-drained moist sites in the garden with some shade. It is unable to be propagated by spores but the lobes from the frond base can be removed and will form a new plant in around a year in a medium of sand and peat.