Loxogramme - Polypodiaceae

Loxogramme abyssinica (Baker) M.G. Price

Photo: P. Ballings
Mozambique

Photo: P. Ballings
Zimbabwe

Photo: P. Ballings
Zimbabwe

Photo: P. Ballings
Zimbabwe

Photo: P. Ballings
Zimbabwe

Photo: P. Ballings
Zimbabwe

Photo: P. Ballings
Zimbabwe

 

 

 

 

Synonyms

Gymnogramma abyssinica Baker
Polypodium suberosum (H.Christ) C.Chr.
Loxogramma africana Copel.
Loxogramma suberosa H. Christ.

Common name

Description

Rhizome widely creeping, slender, 1-2 mm in diameter, roots with short brown-reddish hairs; rhizome scales dark brown, narrowly lanceolate in outline, 1-3 mm long, hairpointed. Fronds spaced apart (up to 5 cm), simple, thickly coraceous. Stipe a narrow winged extension of the lamina, strawcoloured to purplish brown, up to 3 cm long. Lamina up to 42 × 3.8 cm, glabrous on both surfaces, elliptic to narrowly elliptic in outline, apex pointed, base tapering, margins entire, midrib sunken, veins obscure. Sori elongated, linear, 6-30 × c.2.5 mm, set at an angle of about 15% to the midrib, exindusiate, without paraphyses.

Notes

Derivation

abyssinica: of Abyssinia; former name of Ethiopia, from where this fern was first described.

Habitat

Evergreen or semi-deciduous forest, mixed Juniperus-Podocarpus forest, occasionaly river banks, shade.

Distribution worldwide

Africa, Comoro Isl., Madagascar and Mascarene islands.

Distribution in Africa

Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Dem. Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea (incl. Bioko), Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan and South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania , Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Growth form

Epiphytic, lithophytic.

Literature

  • Burrows, J.E. (1990) Southern African Ferns and Fern Allies. Frandsen, Sandton. Pages 187 - 188. (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 540 - 541. (Includes a picture).
  • Jacobsen, W.B.G. (1983) The Ferns and Fern Allies of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban and Pretoria. Pages 306 - 307. (Includes a picture).
  • Kornas, J. (1979) Distribution and ecology of the Pteridophytes in Zambia. Polska Akademia Nauk Wydzial II Nauk Biologicznych. Pages 79 - 80.
  • Roux, J.P. (2001) Conspectus of Southern African Pteridophyta.Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report, 13 Page 106.
  • Roux, J.P. (2009) Synopsis of the Lycopodiophyta and Pteridophyta of Africa, Madagascar and neighbouring islands. Strelitzia 23, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. Pages 158 - 159.
  • Schelpe, E.A.C.L.E. (1970) Pteridophyta.Flora Zambesiaca, 0 Pages 149 - 151.
  • Tardieu-Blot, M.-L. (1964) Ptéridophytes vol.3.Flore du Cameroun, Pages 344 - 345. (Includes a picture).
  • Thardieu-Blot, M.L. (1964) Ptéridophytes vol.8.Flore du Gabon, Pages 205 - 206.
  • Verdcourt, B. (2001) Polypodiaceae.Flora of Tropical East Africa, Pages 33 - 35. (Includes a picture).

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