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Service Notice

The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system and census were set to read-only mode on 1 October 2025. Taxonomic updates published since this time are not being reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or Western Australia’s taxonomic names census (Nomos). Conservation listings displayed on Florabase may also be out of date. Please refer to DBCA’s Threatened species and communities webpage for the most recent Threatened and Priority Flora List, noting that recent taxonomic updates are similarly not included. Our database migration is moving to a staging phase. We thank you for your patience as we ensure the integrity of our biodiversity data, develop new workflows, and train staff to use the new systems. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

The notice period started at 12:00 pm on Wednesday, 1 October 2025 +08:00 and will end at 12:00 pm on Friday, 1 January 2027 +08:00.

Dictyopteris woodwardia (Turner) C.Agardh

Reference
Syn.Alg.Scand. 21 (1817)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Habit and structure. Thallus erect, pale to dark brown, to 30 cm tall, dichotomously to alternately branched. Axes flattened, 2–10 mm wide, with a prominent midrib. Marginal serrations generally conspicuous, but in some specimens poorly developed. Lower axes often denuded. Hair tufts in 2 rows on either side of the midrib. Sporangia scattered, solitary or in small groups, in narrow elongate bands, parallel to and close to the midrib. Hair bundles not surrounded by sporangia. Tetrasporangia dark brown, ovoid to spherical, 110–160 µm diam. in surface view, embedded in the thallus.

Distribution. Known from Ningaloo Reef, near Exmouth, W.A., across northern Australia to Magnetic Island, Qld. Also in the Seychelles, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Habitat. Generally epilithic in the shallow subtidal.

[After Huisman & Phillips, Algae of Australia: Mar. Benthic Algae of North-western Australia, 1. Green and Brown Algae 200 (2015)]

John Huisman and Cheryl Parker, 3 August 2021

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Carnarvon, Pilbara.
IBRA Subregions
Cape Range, Roebourne.
IMCRA Regions
Canning, Kimberley, Ningaloo, North West Shelf, Pilbara (nearshore), Pilbara (offshore).
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Ashburton, Broome, Derby-West Kimberley, Exmouth, Karratha, Wyndham-East Kimberley.