''Telmatoblechnum indicum'' (many

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

including ''Blechnum indicum'') or the swamp water fern is often seen growing on sandy soils in swampy areas. The specific epithet ''indicum'' is from Latin, revealing this plant was first collected in the East Indies (

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

used the starchy

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

as food. This plant was collected with another swamp fern ''

Cyclosorus interruptus ''Cyclosorus interruptus'', the Hottentot fern or swamp shield-fern, is a fern in the family Thelypteridaceae. It is native to the tropics and subtropics in many parts of the world. In the New World, it is found from Mexico to Argentina, and in t ...

'' by

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...

and Daniel Solander at Botany Bay in 1770.

References

Blechnaceae Ferns of Australasia Ferns of Asia Ferns of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Western Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Malesia Bushfood Plants described in 1768 Taxa named by Nicolaas Laurens Burman {{Polypodiales-stub