The World Flora Online

On rocks and trees in shade; up to 6, 500 ft. alt.

Chasmophytes or epilithic, on moist or seasonally moist, usually shaded cliffs and on rocks in screes. Not edaphically bound. Predominantly forest species, growing over mossy boulders and fallen tree trunks in shade in moist forest. Predominantly forest species, growing over mossy boulders and fallen tree trunks in shade in moist forest.

Rhizome widely creeping, c. 2 mm in diameter, set with subcircular to broadly ovate, entire rhizome-scales up to 1.5 mm long. Fronds widely spaced, arching, thinly herbaceous; stipe pale brown, glabrous at maturity, up to 0.18 m long; lamina oblong-lanceolate, acute, up to 0.33 x 0.12 m, deeply 2-pinnatifid, basal pinnae somewhat reduced; pinnae oblong-lanceolate, attenuate, very broadly oblong basally, up to 75 x 15 mm, deeply pinnatifid into narrowly oblong, obtuse, undulate, crenate lobes, very thinly pubescent on costa, costules and veins on under surface; rhachis stramineous, pubescent with minute, pale brown hairs. Sori usually solitary on each lobe, but if 2-3 then occurring along acroscopic margin, up to 1.5 mm in diameter; indusium membranous, entire, c. 1 mm in diameter. Plants terrestrial, epilithic or epiphytic. Rhizome wide-creeping, irregularly laterally branched, to 3 mm in diameter, set with roots, widely spaced persistent phyllopodia to 20 mm long, and scales, scales chartaceous, castaneous to ferrugineous, peltate, circular to subcircular, margins regularly set with uni- and bicellular capitate hairs, adaxial surface closely set with filiform uni- or pluricellular hairs, to 2 mm long, to 1.5 mm wide. Fronds erect to arching, widely spaced, articulated to phyllopodia, to 60 mm apart, to 765 mm long; stipe articulated to the phyllopodia, firm, proximally castaneous, stramineous higher up, adaxially sulcate, to 235 mm long, to 2.5 mm in diameter, set with hairs and scales, hairs pluricellular, acicular, or 2- or 3-celled and clavate, to 120 µm long, sparsely scaled, scales chartaceous, ferrugineous, adnate to sessile, broadly ovate, cordate, margins regularly set with unicellular, thin-walled cells, to 2 mm long, to 1.8 mm wide; lamina catadromous, 1-pinnate-pinnatifid, narrow-elliptic, to 520 mm long, to 175 mm wide, with up to 22 sessile pinna pairs; rachis adaxially sulcate, closely set with hairs similar to those on the stipe; pinnae opposite to alternate, more widely spaced and often slightly reduced basally, oblong- cuneate, pinnatifid, adnate and basiscopically decurrent towards the apex, to 85 mm long, to 27 mm wide; costa adaxially convex, densely set with hairs similar to those on the rachis; pinnules herbaceous, adnate, oblong-acute to oblong-obtuse, basiscopically decurrent, 4 mm long, to 6.5 mm in diameter, dentate, adaxially and abaxially regularly set with acicular hairs to 1 mm long along the veins and margin, and with 3-celled clavate hairs on the lamina between the veins, the 2 apical cells being shorter and gland-like, to 110 mm long. Venation evident, pinnately branched, vein branches terminate in a hydathode in the teeth near the margin, often exuding a white crystalline substance adaxially. Sori circular, to 1.2 mm in diameter, terminally on an abbreviated anadromous vein branch; sporangium long-stalked, simple, 3-seriate below the capsule, capsule globose in lateral view, with (10-)13(-15) indurated annulus cells, epistomium (3-)4-celled, hypostomium 4-celled. Indusium chartaceous, brown, reniform, margin and surface closely set with unicellular capitate gland-like hairs, to 1 mm in diameter. Spores 64 per sporangium, elliptic to spheroidal, monolete, brown, with narrow reticulate wings, exospore (36-)38.08(-42) x (26-)27.13(-32) µm. Plants terrestrial, epilithic or epiphytic. Rhizome wide-creeping, irregularly laterally branched, to 3 mm in diameter, set with roots, widely spaced persistent phyllopodia to 20 mm long, and scales, scales chartaceous, castaneous to ferrugineous, peltate, circular to subcircular, margins regularly set with uni- and bicellular capitate hairs, adaxial surface closely set with filiform uni- or pluricellular hairs, to 2 mm long, to 1.5 mm wide. Fronds erect to arching, widely spaced, articulated to phyllopodia, to 60 mm apart, to 765 mm long; stipe articulated to the phyllopodia, firm, proximally castaneous, stramineous higher up, adaxially sulcate, to 235 mm long, to 2.5 mm in diameter, set with hairs and scales, hairs pluricellular, acicular, or 2- or 3-celled and clavate, to 120 µm long, sparsely scaled, scales chartaceous, ferrugineous, adnate to sessile, broadly ovate, cordate, margins regularly set with unicellular, thin-walled cells, to 2 mm long, to 1.8 mm wide; lamina catadromous, 1-pinnate-pinnatifid, narrow-elliptic, to 520 mm long, to 175 mm wide, with up to 22 sessile pinna pairs; rachis adaxially sulcate, closely set with hairs similar to those on the stipe; pinnae opposite to alternate, more widely spaced and often slightly reduced basally, oblong- cuneate, pinnatifid, adnate and basiscopically decurrent towards the apex, to 85 mm long, to 27 mm wide; costa adaxially convex, densely set with hairs similar to those on the rachis; pinnules herbaceous, adnate, oblong-acute to oblong-obtuse, basiscopically decurrent, 4 mm long, to 6.5 mm in diameter, dentate, adaxially and abaxially regularly set with acicular hairs to 1 mm long along the veins and margin, and with 3-celled clavate hairs on the lamina between the veins, the 2 apical cells being shorter and gland-like, to 110 mm long. Venation evident, pinnately branched, vein branches terminate in a hydathode in the teeth near the margin, often exuding a white crystalline substance adaxially. Sori circular, to 1.2 mm in diameter, terminally on an abbreviated anadromous vein branch; sporangium long-stalked, simple, 3-seriate below the capsule, capsule globose in lateral view, with (10-)13(-15) indurated annulus cells, epistomium (3-)4-celled, hypostomium 4-celled. Indusium chartaceous, brown, reniform, margin and surface closely set with unicellular capitate gland-like hairs, to 1 mm in diameter. Spores 64 per sporangium, elliptic to spheroidal, monolete, brown, with narrow reticulate wings, exospore (36-)38.08(-42) x (26-)27.13(-32) µm.

Natal, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Malawi, Zaire, Zambia, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, Cameroun, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Fernando Po, São Tomé, Madagascar, Comoro Islands and Reunion. The species is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa and the western Indian Ocean region. The species is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa and the western Indian Ocean region.