Schizaea dichotoma

Schizaea dichotoma, the branched comb fern is a small plant usually found in open forest or heath, often on sandy soils. The habit is mostly upright, with up to 20 segments, twice or more times branched. Found in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Malesia and islands in the Pacific Ocean. A low plant, 20 to 40 cm tall. The specific epithet "dichotoma" is derived from Greek, meaning "twice cut", referring to the branched nature of the fronds. This plant first appeared in scientific literature in the year 1753 as Acrostichum dichotomum, published in the Species Plantarum by Carl Linnaeus.