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Calochlaena dubia is a common Australian ground fern, often called soft bracken or rainbow fern, found under eucalyptus forest. It is an easy garden plant that spreads vigorously by rhizomes and needs to be kept in check.
Calochlaena dubia, commonly known as soft bracken, false bracken, common ground fern or rainbow fern, is a small Australian fern in the treefern family Dicksoniaceae. It is very common within its range, and often seen growing under eucalyptus forest, often on the poorer quality soils. It is an easy plant to grow in the garden.
Well suited to the garden, Calochlaena dubia is an easy plant to grow. In fact, it must be kept in check by cutting the rhizomes and given plenty of room. It does well on clay soils.
Calochlaena dubia is found as an understory plant in open forests and rainforests in eastern Australia, from Queensland, through New South Wales and Victoria into Tasmania. It can form large banks or swathes.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Calochlaena dubia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
