Negripteris tricholepifera Pic.Serm.

Rhizome, rhizome scales, fronds ? Stipe 7-12 cm long, terete, blackish to chestnut-brown, densely set with scales, hairs and a sparse farina near the very base; scales lanceolate-subulate in outline, base heartshaped to pseudo-peltate, margin entire, apex flagelliform, 2-5 x 0.2-0.7 mm, chestnutbrown with a shining black region at the point of attachment, the narrower scales intergrade with simple (sometimes glandular) hairs. Lamina lanceolate to ovate-elliptic in outline, base truncate, apex gradually tapering to a point, 16-18 x 8-9 cm, below with little or no farina; pinnae in c. 8 pairs, sessile, the lower well spaced, unequally triangular in outline, 1-4 x c 3 cm, 2-pinnatifid; lobes 5-7 pairs, 5-23 x 5-8 mm, the first basiscopic lobe usually longest; secondary lobes small and rounded to subacute; rhachis densely scaled. Sori superficial, marginal, black; indusia grey-green.

Damp, scruby places on calcareous ground.

Africa, India, Oman, Socotra, Sudan, Yemen.

Ethiopia.

Terrestrial.