Species

Amauropelta - Thelypteridaceae

Amauropelta bergiana (Schltdl.) Holttum var. bergiana

Photo: P. Ballings
Zimbabwe

Synonyms	Nephrodium bergianum (Schltdl.) Baker Thelypteris bergiana (Schltdl.) Ching Polypodium bergianum Schltdl. Aspidium bergianum (Schltdl.) Mett. Dryopteris bergiana (Schltdl.) Kunze Aspidium maranguense Hieron.
Common name
Description	Rhizome erect, suberect; rhizome scales up to 8 mm long, lanceolate, brown, subentire, sparsely ciliate. Fronds monomorphic, tufted, arching, not proliferous, herbaceous. Stipe up to 32 cm long, strawcoloured to greyish brown, with minute white hairs and with scales similar to those on the rhizome near the base. Lamina deeply 2-pinnatifid, narrowly elliptic in outline, apex tapering to a point, lower pinnae gradually reduced and widely spaced, with usually 1 pair of very small, vestigial pinnae, 30-95 × up to 26 cm; pinnae narrowly oblong-acuminate, 7.5-16 × 1.5-2.5 cm; undersurface with short, pale hairs, many of which are hooked, upper surface with short, straight hairs; ultimate lobes oblong, apex rounded, margins entire, 8-10 x 4 mm; veins 8-10 pairs, not meeting the veins of the adjacent lobes; rhachis pale brown, with scattered hooked hairs below. Sori numerous, small, rounded, submarginal on the veins; indusia small, with few hairs, lost at maturity.
Notes	A. oppositiformis resembles A. bergiana but is found in high-altitude grassland and has straight hairs and golden to red glands on the lamina below. A. bergiana look for: hooked hairs on lower surface of lamina, minute indusium, basal pinnae gradually decrescent with 1 pair of vestigial pinnae, veins of pinnae lobes not meeting below sinus.
Derivation	bergiana: named after C.H.Bergius (1790-1818), German botanist.
Habitat	Streambanks in forest and moist areas along forest margin, bamboo-podocarpus, rock caves in Erica forest.
Distribution worldwide	Africa, Mascarene Isl.
Distribution in Africa	Angola , Burundi , Cameroon , Equatorial Guinea (incl. Bioko), Kenya , Malawi , Mozambique , Nigeria , Rwanda , South Africa , Sudan and South Sudan , Swaziland , Tanzania , Zambia , Zimbabwe .
Growth form	Terrestrial.
Literature	Burrows, J.E. (1990) Southern African Ferns and Fern Allies. Frandsen, Sandton. Pages 266 - 268. As Thelypteris bergiana (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 694 - 695. (Includes a picture). Jacobsen, W.B.G. (1983) The Ferns and Fern Allies of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban and Pretoria. Pages 383 - 384. (Includes a picture). Kornas, J. (1979) Distribution and ecology of the Pteridophytes in Zambia. Polska Akademia Nauk Wydzial II Nauk Biologicznych. Page 87. As Thelypteris bergiana Roux, J.P. (2001) Conspectus of Southern African Pteridophyta.Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report, 13 Page 116. (Includes a picture). 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 199. Schelpe, E.A.C.L.E. (1970) Pteridophyta.Flora Zambesiaca, 0 Pages 193 - 194. As Thelypteris bergiana (Includes a picture). Tardieu-Blot, M.-L. (1964) Ptéridophytes vol.3.Flore du Cameroun, Pages 240 - 242. Verdcourt, B (2006) Thelypteridaceae.Flora of Tropical East Africa, Pages 5 - 6. (Includes a picture).