Cheilanthes - Sinopteridaceae

Cheilanthes bergiana Schltdl.

Photo: BT. Wursten
Zimbabwe

Photo: BT. Wursten
Zimbabwe

 

 

 

 

Synonyms

Hypolepis bergiana (Schltdl.) Hook.
Cheilanthes elata Kunze
Notholaena streetiae Baker
Cheilanthes streetiae (Baker) Baker

Common name

Description

Rhizome erect or shortly creeping, up to 10 mm in diameter, producing underground stolons that give rise to new plants at their tips; rhizome scales lanceolate in outline, margin (sub)entire, 4-9 x 0.7 mm, dark brown with pale brown margins. Fronds monomorphic, tufted, erect to arching, 30-100 cm long, herbaceous. Stipe up to 65 cm long, chestnut to dark brown, densely set with short, brown hairs and with narrow scales at the extreme base. Lamina 3-pinnate to 5-pinnatifid, roughly pentagonal to triangular in outline, lower pinnae basiscopically developed, 2/3-3/4 the length of the lamina, upper pinnae less divided, 11-45 × 10-50 cm; pinnules shortly petiolate, deltate-lanceolate in outline; ultimate segments oblong-lanceolate in outline, up to 4 x 2 mm, decurrent, rounded, venation free, both surfaces lightly set with short hairs up to 1 mm long; rhachis, costae and costules thinly pubescent. Sori marginal, small, less than 1 mm in diameter, discrete; indusium small, lunate, (sub)entire, membranous.

Notes

Could be confused with C. multifida or C. pentagona, but these species are (sub)-glabrous, do not have underground stolons and do not occur in forests.

Derivation

bergiana: named after C.H.Bergius (1790-1818), German collector in the Cape.

Habitat

Wet forest floors and forest edges in intermediate to montane evergreen and mist forest, deep shade, often riverine or in grassy glades, also Cypress plantations, sometimes on dead logs.

Distribution worldwide

Africa, Madagascar.

Distribution in Africa

Dem. Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania , Uganda, Zimbabwe.

Growth form

Terrestrial.

Literature

  • Burrows, J.E. (1990) Southern African Ferns and Fern Allies. Frandsen, Sandton. Page 150. (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 398 - 399. (Includes a picture).
  • Jacobsen, W.B.G. (1983) The Ferns and Fern Allies of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban and Pretoria. Pages 267 - 268. (Includes a picture).
  • Roux, J.P. (2001) Conspectus of Southern African Pteridophyta.Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report, 13 Page 61.
  • 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 180.
  • Schelpe, E.A.C.L.E. (1970) Pteridophyta.Flora Zambesiaca, 0 Page 124.
  • Verdcourt, B. (2002) Adiantaceae.Flora of Tropical East Africa, Pages 34 - 35.
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