Pteris tripartita Sw.
Synonyms |
Pteris marginata Bory |
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Common name |
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Description |
Rhizome erect, short; rhizome scales concolorous. Fronds monomorphic, tufted, 0.5–2.5 m long. Stipe 0.3–1.5 m long, very fleshy and thick. Lamina ovate-triangular in outline, divided in 3 equal branches of 1 m long, 25 cm wide, the laterals with smaller similar branches and frond appearing pedately branched; each branch bipinnate with up to 30 pairs of pinnules; pinnules (2–)5–25 x 1.3–3 cm wide; ultimate segments ± oblong, straight or falcate, 0.3–2 x 0.3-0.7 cm; veins with narrow areoles along costae and costules and anastomosing in ultimate lobes. Sori extending from sinus about halfway or to near top of segments. |
Notes | |
Derivation | tripartita: tripartate, consisting of three parts, referring to the lamina that is divided in 3 equal branches. |
Habitat | Cynometra alexandri-Khaya anthotheca forest, moist evergreen forest on massive outcrop of Kambe limestone. |
Distribution worldwide | Africa, Comoro Isl., Mascarene Isl., Chagos Isl., Principe, São Tomé, Seychelles, widespread in the old world tropics extending to Polynesia and Australia, naturalised in American tropics. |
Distribution in Africa |
Angola, Cameroon, Dem. Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea (incl. Bioko), Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania , Uganda. |
Growth form |
Epiphytic, terrestrial. |
Literature |
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