Species

Asplenium - Aspleniaceae

Asplenium dregeanum Kunze

Photo: P. Ballings
Mozambique

Photo: JE. Burrows
Zimbabwe

Photo: P. Ballings
Rwanda

Photo: P. Ballings
Rwanda

Photo: P. Ballings
Zimbabwe

Synonyms	Asplenium brachypteron Kunze Asplenium gracile Peter Asplenium dregeanum Kunze var. brachypterum (Kunze ex Houlston & T.Moore) Bonap. Asplenium gueinzianum Mett. ex Kuhn Asplenium dregeanum Kunze var. gracile Bonap.
Common name
Description	Rhizome erect, to 5 mm thick; rhizome scales brown, lanceolate to narrowly ovate in outline, 1-5 mm long, margins entire, pale. Fronds tufted, herbaceous, erect to arching, proliferous below the apex, the apical segment above the proliferating bud has less than 5 lobes. Stipe up to 17 cm, usually less than half the length of the lamina, greyish-brown, sometimes narrowly winged, subglabrous. Lamina 10-39 cm × 2.5-6 cm, 2-pinnate to 3-pinnatifid, narrowly lanceolate to narrowly oblong(-elliptic) in outline, lowest pinnae hardly reduced, apical segment deeply pinnatifid with 3-5 lobes. Pinnae 13-32 pairs, petiolate, rhombic-oblong or narrowly oblong in outline, up to 35 × 11 mm, acroscopically developed, glabrous to subglabrous, lobes narrowly oblong-obtuse. Pinnae with 1-3 basiscopic pinnae lobes; the first arising between the 2nd-4th acroscopic lobes. Rhachis matt-greyish-green when dry, with occasional pale brown minute scales. Sori 2-3 mm long, elliptic, one centrally located per lobe, indusium elliptic, entire, membranous, to 1 mm wide.
Notes	Confused with similar species; A. dregeanum has finer divided fronds with the the first basal lobe arising between the 2nd and 4th acroscopic lobes.
Derivation	dregeanum: named after J.F. Drège (1794-1881), a German horticulturist and plant collector in southern Africa.
Habitat	In areas with deep shade and abundant moisture in evergreen forests, mossy rocks, often by streamsides.
Distribution worldwide	Africa, Madagascar, Comoro Isl.
Distribution in Africa	Angola , Burundi , Cameroon , Dem. Republic of Congo , Equatorial Guinea (incl. Bioko), Ethiopia , Gabon , Ghana , Guinea , Ivory Coast , Kenya , Liberia , Malawi , Mozambique , Nigeria , Rwanda , Sierra Leone , South Africa , Sudan and South Sudan , Tanzania , Togo , Uganda , Zambia , Zimbabwe .
Growth form	Epiphytic, lithophytic, terrestrial.
Literature	Beentje, H.J. (2008) Aspleniaceae.Flora of Tropical East Africa, Page 43. (Includes a picture). Burrows, J.E. (1990) Southern African Ferns and Fern Allies. Frandsen, Sandton. Page 236. (Includes a picture). Crouch, N.R., Klopper, R.R., Burrows, J.E. & Burrows, S.M. (2011) Ferns of Southern Africa, A comprehensive guide. Struik Nature. Pages 628 - 629. (Includes a picture). Fisher, E. & Lobin, W. (2023) Synoptic Revision of Aspleniaceae (Asplenium, Hymenasplenium) of Rwanda.Phytotaxa, 608 (1) Page 14. Jacobsen, W.B.G. (1983) The Ferns and Fern Allies of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban and Pretoria. Pages 372 - 373. (Includes a picture). Kornas, J. (1979) Distribution and ecology of the Pteridophytes in Zambia. Polska Akademia Nauk Wydzial II Nauk Biologicznych. Page 98. Roux, J.P. (2001) Conspectus of Southern African Pteridophyta.Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report, 13 Pages 163 - 164. Roux, J.P. (2009) Synopsis of the Lycopodiophyta and Pteridophyta of Africa, Madagascar and neighbouring islands. Strelitzia 23, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. Pages 83 - 84. Schelpe, E.A.C.L.E. (1970) Pteridophyta.Flora Zambesiaca, 0 Page 184. Tardieu-Blot, M.-L. (1964) Ptéridophytes vol.3.Flore du Cameroun, Pages 220 - 221. (Includes a picture). Thardieu-Blot, M.L. (1964) Ptéridophytes vol.8.Flore du Gabon, Pages 141 - 142.