Thelypteris hispidula (Decne.) Reed
Thelypteris quadrangularis (Fée) Schelpe
Christella hilsenbergii (C.Presl) Holttum
Cyclosorus contigua Rosenst.
Aspidium hispidulum Decne.
Nephrodium hilsenbergii Presl
Cyclosorus quadrangularis (Fée) Tardieu

Rhizome erect or inclining, c.20 mm in diameter; rhizome scales lanceolate in outline, margin entire or ciliate, up to 6 mm long, dark brown, often thinly pilose. Fronds monomorphic, tufted, arching, not proliferous, herbaceous. Stipe 12-40(-60) cm long, pale brown, thinly set with minute stiff hairs and scaly at base. Lamina deeply 2-pinnatifid, ovate to broadly lanceolate in outline, apex tapering to a point with a pinnatifid terminal segment, basal 2-4 pairs of pinnae slightly reduced and deflexed, 25-60 × 30 cm; pinnae linear-oblong in outline, apex tapering to a point, 8-16 x 1.2-2.2 cm; ultimate lobes narrowly oblong in outline, slightly falcate, apex rounded, basal acroscopic lobe enlarged, margin entire, 4-10 x 2-5 mm, both surfaces with long, white hairs, more so below, particularly along the veins, costae and costules; veins 1 pair meeting some way below the sinus; rhachis set with long pale hairs. Sori round, up to 13 per lobe; indusia coriaceous, thickly set with long white hairs.

Christella hispidula resembles C. dentata but the latter has 1 pair of veins meeting below the sinus and a single vein joining in the sinus and a clearly creeping rhizome.
C. hispidula look for: 1 pair of veins meeting below the sinus, 1 or 2 pairs of slightly reduced pinnae and an erect to inclining rhizome.

hispidula: minutely rough with stiff hairs (hispidulous)

Evergreen forest floor away from water or along streambanks in forest, always in deep shade.

Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, E. tropical Asia and tropical S. America.

Angola, Equatorial Guinea (incl. Bioko), Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania , Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Terrestrial.