Species

Nothoperanema squamiseta (Hook.) Ching

Photo: JE. Burrows
Zimbabwe

Synonyms	Dryopteris squamiseta (Hook.) Kuntze Nephrodium buchananii Baker Aspidium squamisetum (Hook.) Kuhn Nephrodium squamisetum Hook. Lastrea buchananii (Baker) Bedd. Dryopteris buchananii (Baker) Kuntze
Common name
Description	Rhizome erect to suberect, up to 7 mm in diameter (2-4 cm wide and deep?); rhizome scales dark brown, to 10 x 2 mm, lanceolate in outline, margin entire, tapering to a drawn-out point. Fronds tufted, erect to arching, herbaceous, 6-9 per plant. Stipe up to 60 cm long, straw-coloured, reddish-brown near the base, densely set with stiff dark brown scales standing out at right angles to the stipe. Lamina up to 50 × 40 cm, 3-pinnate to 4-pinnatifid on the basiscopically developed basal pinnae, deltate to roughly ovate in outline. Pinnae 10-14 pairs, narrowly oblong-attenuate, spaced apart, almost equally sided. Ultimate lobes oblong, margins weakly lobed or entire, apex lobed or entire, rounded, subglabrous with few brown, upright scales above and below. Rhachis straw-coloured, sparsely set with scales similar to rhizome, but with tuft at junction with pinnae. Sori round, 1-1.4 mm, 12-20 per lobe set in the upper half of the pinnules; indusium kidney-shaped to subcircular, c. 1 mm in diameter, membraneous, margin wavy.
Notes	Can be distinguished from other Dryopteris-species by having a combination of stiff scales that stand out at right angles on the stipe, entire rounded pinnule lobes and sori that are grouped towards the end of the pinnules.
Derivation	squama: scale, seta: bristle; refers to the stiff scales on the stipe.
Habitat	Deep shade in or along streams in evergreen forest, or bamboo forest.
Distribution worldwide	Africa, Asia, Madagascar and Mascarene Islands.
Distribution in Africa	Cameroon , Equatorial Guinea (incl. Bioko), Ethiopia , Kenya , Malawi , Rwanda , Somalia , 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 306 - 308. As Dryopteris squamiseta (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 470 - 471. (Includes a picture). Jacobsen, W.B.G. (1983) The Ferns and Fern Allies of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban and Pretoria. Pages 440 - 441. As Dryopteris squamiseta (Includes a picture). Kornas, J. (1979) Distribution and ecology of the Pteridophytes in Zambia. Polska Akademia Nauk Wydzial II Nauk Biologicznych. Page 109. As Dryopteris squamiseta 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 136 - 137. Roux, J.P. (2001) Conspectus of Southern African Pteridophyta.Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report, 13 Page 123. (Includes a picture). Roux, J.P.; Shaffer-Fehre, M. & Verdcourt, B. (2007) Dryopteridaceae.Flora of Tropical East Africa, Pages 33 - 35. (Includes a picture). Schelpe, E.A.C.L.E. (1970) Pteridophyta.Flora Zambesiaca, 0 Pages 223 - 225. As Dryopteris squamiseta Tardieu-Blot, M.-L. (1964) Ptéridophytes vol.3.Flore du Cameroun, Page 260. (Includes a picture).