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Species library › Huperzia › Huperzia australiana
Ferns Well documented

Huperzia australiana

A small, tufted firmoss of subalpine and subantarctic grassland and bog edges in New Zealand, south-east Australia and Tasmania, with outliers on Mount Kinabalu and Sulawesi. It wants cold, wet, bright conditions all year and is very hard to keep in warm homes; a cool, humid, well-lit terrarium or alpine house is the realistic option.

Huperzia australiana
Photo: Peter de Lange, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Humid airBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Sheltered spots in subalpine tussock grassland, herbfield and the margins of bogs, often among low shrubs or rocks that give some shelter from wind. Stems lie flat at the base and send up dense upright branches; it also spreads by small bulbils along the stems.

Recorded from sea level on the subantarctic islands up to about 2,150 m, median about 1,200 m; on the mainland it is mainly a subalpine plant.

New Zealand (North and South Islands)Chatham, Antipodean and Macquarie IslandsTasmaniaVictoriaNew South WalesBorneo (Sabah)Sulawesi

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC0 licence, unmodified.