Pseudophegopteris - Thelypteridaceae

Pseudophegopteris cruciata (Willd.) Holttum

 

 

 

 

Synonyms

Aspidium cruciatum Willd.
Phegopteris cruciata (Willd.) Mett. ex Kuhn
Dryopteris cruciata (Willd.) C.Chr.
Thelypteris cruciata (Willd.) Tardieu
Macrothelypteris cruciata (Willd.) Pic.Serm.

Common name

Description

Rhizome erect. Fronds monomorphic, tufted, 0.5–1.6 m tall. Stipe 30–45 cm long, reddish or straw-coloured, with numerous spreading hyaline scales at base, turning brown with age. Lamina bipinnate-pinnatifid, 0.3–1 m or more long, 16–58 cm wide; pinnae lanceolate in outline, ± sessile or stalklet to 5 mm, 15–29 x 4.5–9 cm; pinnules in ± 25 pairs, 2.5–5.5 x 1.2–1.5 cm, distinctly narrowed at the base but always adnate to pinna-rachis, lobed, the lobes oblong, 6–7 x 2.5–3.5 mm, entire or almost so or with a few obscure lobes; costa of pinnules pilose; veins simple or forked. Sori on acroscopic vein-branches.

Notes

Derivation

Habitat

Swampy stream bank in wet evergreen forest of Podocarpus, Hagenia etc.

Distribution worldwide

Bioko, Cameroon, DRC, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania, Uganda and Mascarene Is.

Distribution in Africa

Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea (incl. Bioko), Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania , Uganda.

Growth form

Terrestrial.

Literature

  • Roux, J.P. (2009) Synopsis of the Lycopodiophyta and Pteridophyta of Africa, Madagascar and neighbouring islands. Strelitzia 23, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. Page 209.
  • Verdcourt, B (2006) Thelypteridaceae.Flora of Tropical East Africa, Pages 3 - 5. (Includes a picture).
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