Ctenitis pubigera Alston
Dryopteris nigritiana (Baker) C.Chr.
Polypodium nigritianum Baker

Rhizome erect, thick; rhizome scales narrow, dark brown, apex gradually tapering, base cordate, cells dark walls with light brown red contents. Fronds monomorphic, tufted, subcoriaceous, c. 1.5 m. Stipe 50-70 cm long, brown-red, grooved, with scales near the base. Lamina 3-pinnate, deltoid in outline; pinnae with the lowermost pair basiscopically developed, 30 x 15 cm, petiole 4 cm, first lower pinnule 2 times bigger than upper, pinnules c.5-8 cm, subsessile, lanceolate, pinnate at the base, middle pinnae petiolate, bipinnate at the base, first lobe against the costa more deeply lobed than the others, ultimate segments oblong, apex rounded, base uneven, lobed; all axes finely set with short red hairs on the upper surface; costae, costules and veins with short hairs on the lower surface; veins simple in the lobes. Sori rounded, submarginal; exindusiate.

Terrestrial in forested ravines, 610-915 m.

See African distribution.

Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea (incl. Bioko), Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria.

Terrestrial.