Pteris tremula, commonly known as Australian Brake, Tender Brake, Tender Brakefern, Shaking Brake is a fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of the family Pteridaceae

Pteridaceae

Pteridaceae is a large family of ferns in the order Pteridales. Members of the family have creeping or erect rhizomes and are mostly terrestrial or epipetric...

 native to sheltered areas and forests 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...

 and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It has pale green, lacy fronds of up to 2 meters (7 ft) in length, with an erect, tufted rhizome

Rhizome

In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...

 that is covered with narrow brown scales. It is fast-growing and easy to grow in cultivation, but can become weedy.

Taxonomy

The 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...

 published this plant in the year 1810, in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae, and still bears its original name. The specific epithet tremula 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...

 "tremulous" or "shaking". It is a member of the large genus Pteris, containing around 300 species, 7 of which can be found in Australia. Tender brake is a common name for the fern.

Varieties

• Pteris tremula var. caudata
• Pteris tremula var. minor
• Pteris tremula var. pectinata
• Pteris tremula var. tremula

Description

Pteris tremula is a terrestrial fern, with its frond

Frond

The term frond refers to a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group...

s arising from the ground up to 1.3 m (4 ft), rarely up to 2 m (7 ft) tall. The stipe is brown. The light green lacy compound fronds may reach 2 m (7 ft) in length and are 3-pinnate or more. The brownish sori line the undersides of the frond margins. Unlike Pteris vittata

Pteris vittata

Pteris vittata, commonly known variously as the Chinese brake, Chinese ladder brake, or simply ladder brake, is a species of fern in the genus Pteris. It is indigenous to Asia, tropical Africa and Australia. The type specimen was collected in China by Pehr Osbeck.-Habitat and distribution:Pteris...

and other Pteris species, it is not able to hyperaccumulate arsenic

Arsenic

Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...

 and is damaged by levels as low as 25mg/kg in the soil. The plant contains two cytotoxic indanonic sesquiterpene

Sesquiterpene

Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and have the molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be acyclic or contain rings, including many unique combinations...

s.

Distribution and habitat

The range within Australia is Central Australia (Northern Territory), eastern South Australia, Queensland, eastern New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. It is also found on Lord Howe

Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about from Norfolk Island. The island is about 11 km long and between 2.8 km and 0.6 km wide with an area of...

 and Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...

, New Zealand, and the Kermadec Islands

Kermadec Islands

The Kermadec Islands are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga...

and Fiji. It is found in sheltered habitats in wet sclerophyll and rainforest.

Cultivation

Pteris tremula is a fairly easy plant to grow in the home garden, where it prefers a shady spot. It prefers fair drainage with some moisture retention in the soil and filtered morning light. It is nevertheless fast growing and has been known to naturalise. In the 1950s it was reported to be the most commonly cultivated Pteris species in the United States of America.