Adiantum - Adiantaceae

Adiantum poiretii J.E. Wikstr.

Photo: P. Ballings
Zimbabwe

Photo: P. Ballings
South Africa

Photo: JE. Burrows
South Africa

Photo: JE. Burrows
South Africa

Photo: P. Ballings
South Africa

Photo: JE. Burrows
South Africa

Photo: P. Ballings
South Africa

 

 

 

 

Synonyms

Adiantum crenatum Poir.
Adiantum poiretii Wikstr. var. sulphureum (Kaulf.) R.M.Tryon
Adiantum sulphureum Kaulf.
Adiantum thalictroides Schltdl.

Common name

Description

Rhizome widely creeping, c. 2 mm in diameter; rhizome scales appressed, lanceolate in outline, apex gradually tapering to a point, slightly ciliate, up to 8 × 0.8 mm, brown. Fronds monomorphic, closely spaced or frequently tufted at the end of the rhizome, arching to erect, herbaceous, glabrous. Stipe up to 35 cm long, dark brown to black, shiny, glabrous save for brown lanceolate scales at the base. Lamina 2-4 pinnate, branching irregular, broadly ovate-deltate in outline, 30 × 25 cm; pinnules deciduous, semicircular to triangular in outline, base truncate to rounded, bluntly toothed on the outer and upper margin, 0.5-1.5(-2) × 0.5-1.5(-2.2) cm, veins ending in the sinuses of the lobes of the outer margin, hairless; rhachis and stalks black, shiny, hairless, stalklets 2-5 (-7) mm long, brown, hairless. Sori 1-6, on the undersurface of the pinnules situated in the marginal sinuses, indusial flap rounded-oblong to crescent shaped, up to 2.5 mm long, hairlesss, sometimes surrounded by some yellow powder.

Notes

A. poiretii is 2-4 pinnate. It may be confused with A. capillus-veneris which has the veins ending in the teeth of the marginal serrations. A. raddianum has much smaller pinnules and almost circular shaped sori. The pinnules of A. poiretii are also deciduous.

Derivation

poiretii: named after Jean Louis Poiret (1755-1834), French botanist.

Habitat

In moist evergreen forest or medium-altitude riverine forest.

Distribution worldwide

Africa, Indian Ocean Islands, India, Tristan da Cunha, tropical America.

Distribution in Africa

Angola, Benin, Burkina Fasso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Dem. Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea (incl. Bioko), Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan and South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania , Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Growth form

Lithophytic, terrestrial.

Literature

  • Burrows, J.E. (1990) Southern African Ferns and Fern Allies. Frandsen, Sandton. Pages 123 - 124. (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 432 - 433. (Includes a picture).
  • Fisher E. & Killmann D. (2008) Illustrated Field guide to the Plants of Nyungwe National Park Rwanda. University of Koblenz-Landau. Pages 50 - 51. (Includes a picture).
  • Fisher E. & Lobin W. (2024) Checklist of Lycopodiopsida (clubmosses and quillworts) and Polypodiopsida (ferns) of Rwanda.Willdenowia, 53 Page 165.
  • Jacobsen, W.B.G. (1983) The Ferns and Fern Allies of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban and Pretoria. Pages 230 - 231. (Includes a picture).
  • Kornas, J. (1979) Distribution and ecology of the Pteridophytes in Zambia. Polska Akademia Nauk Wydzial II Nauk Biologicznych. Pages 66 - 67.
  • 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 70.
  • Roux, J.P. (2001) Conspectus of Southern African Pteridophyta.Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report, 13 Pages 75 - 76.
  • Schelpe, E.A.C.L.E. (1970) Pteridophyta.Flora Zambesiaca, 0 Pages 112 - 113. (Includes a picture).
  • Tardieu-Blot, M.-L. (1964) Ptéridophytes vol.3.Flore du Cameroun, Pages 148 - 149.
  • Verdcourt, B. (2002) Adiantaceae.Flora of Tropical East Africa, Pages 62 - 64. (Includes a picture).

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