Gleichenia microphylla is a small fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

 growing in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Also found in South East Asia, Malesia

Malesia

Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the boundaries of the Indomalaya ecozone and Australasia ecozone, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom.-Floristic province:...

, New Caledonia

New Caledonia

New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...

 and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Referred to as one of the Coral Ferns.

Some of the other common names include: Scrambling Coral Fern, Umbrella Fern, Parasol Fern, Carrier tangle, Matua-rarauhe, Matuku, Tapuwae kotuku, Waewae kaka, Waewae kotuku and Waewae matuku.

A common plant, often seen growing under waterfalls, in swamps, under cliffs and in tall open forest. It prefers high humidity and good levels of sunshine and moisture. It can form large colonies.

In 1810 it appeared in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae, authored by Robert Brown.