Vittaria acrostichoides Hook. & Grev.
Drymoglossum acrostichoides (Hook. & Grev.) T. Moore
Elaphoglossum preussii Hieron.
Elaphoglossum petiolatum var. rupestris sensu Sim

Depending on exposure and habitat this species may be very variable in size and shape. Rhizome creeping, 4-8 mm in diameter; rhizome scales pale brown to black, 3-5 mm long, deltate-ovate to lanceolate, margin entire or with filiform outgrows; phyllopodia present, 1-2 cm long, dark brown. Fronds simple, closely spaced to apart, erect or arching, herbaceous to coriaceous, weakly to strongly dimorphic. Sterile fronds: 20-50 cm long, stipe up to 15 cm long, brown to stramineous when dry, grooved ventrally, articulated near the base, glabrous to lightly set with entire, pale brown scales, scales ovate, 4-5 mm long, orange-tan, with small, irregular processes; stipe of sterile fronds on average half as long as that of fertile fronds. Sterile lamina obovate to elliptic to lanceolate in outline, apex rounded, base tapering, 3-35 × 1-3.6 cm, dark green and glabrous above, paler and with a few dot-like scales below, margin entire to wavy; costa prominent, with scattered to sparse lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate scales 2-3 mm long, with irregular processes; veins 1 mm apart, at 80° angle to costa; hydathodes absent. Fertile fronds: same shape and length as sterile fronds but with a longer stipe and a smaller lamina; lamina narrowly elliptic, 23 x 2 cm, intersporangial scales absent. Sporangia covering the undersurface of the lamina except for the midrib.

acrostichoides: similar to Acrostichum, a fern belonging to the Parkeriaceae; members of this family are found in aquatic or swampy habitats.

Variable species occuring in a wide range of habitats: shade in forest, crevices in rocky outcrops in high-altitude grassland, shaded cliff faces near waterfalls, moss-covered earth banks along streams and in montane scrub.

Africa, Madagascar, Comoro Isl., Réunion, São Tomé.

Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Dem. Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea (incl. Bioko), Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania , Uganda, Zimbabwe.

Epiphytic, lithophytic.