Lastreopsis decomposita, known as the Trim Shield Fern is a common plant found in eastern 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...

. The habitat is rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

 or moist sheltered eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

 forests. It may form large colonies. This fern features delicate lacy fronds, up to 90 cm long. The segments are alternate on the stem, hairy and thin textured.

The specific epithet decomposita is from Latin, it refers to the segments being compounded more than once.

This species first appeared in the scientific literature as in 1810 as Nephrodium decompositum, in the Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. Authored by the prolific Scottish botanist, Robert Brown

Robert Brown (botanist)

Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...

.