Botanical name      Calochlaena dubia    

A common name    Rainbow Fern,  False Bracken

Seedling

Young plant

Juvenile

Reasonably mature

Calochlaena dubia is occaisionaly lumped in with  Pteridium esculentum, or Bracken, by those who may not look to closely.

Firstly it tends not to grow right out in the open, it needs at least some protection from the Sun.  Heavey frost will also set it back, rather like Austral Bracken.  I suspect it also needs more moisture than Pteridium esculentum.  While you can see large patches of it up to as much as 1.5 metres tall, it doesn't seem to produce the 1.5 to 2 metres or more tall fronds growing through other plants as Austral Bracken does.  It is quite a different shade of green than Austral Bracken, quite hairy, or even furry, and much softer to the touch.























Pteridium esculentum is not hairy, Calochlaena dubia is!




















The fronds are limp in appearance and they are soft to touch.