Species

Bolbitis heudelotii (Bory ex Fée) Alston

Photo: JE. Burrows
Zimbabwe

Synonyms	Gymnopteris heudelotii Bory ex Fée Acrostichum heudelotii (Bory ex Fée) Hook. Chrysodium heudelotii (Bory ex Fée) Kuhn Leptochilus heudelotii (Bory ex Fée) C.Chr. Anapausia heudelotii (Bory ex Fée) C.Presl. Campium heudelotii (Bory ex Fée) Copel. Campium angustifolium Copel. Bolbitis felixii Tardieu
Common name
Description	Rhizome widely creeping, up to 10 mm in diameter; rhizome scales light to very dark brown, linear-lanceolate in outline, clathrate, (sub)entire. Fronds spaced apart, arching, firmly membranous, transparent when submerged, trimorphic. Sterile submerged fronds: stipe 2.5-7 cm long, lamina ovate to elliptic, 7.5-17 × 3.5-7 cm, pinnate to deeply pinnatifid towards the apex, not gemmiferous; pinnae deeply pinnatifid towards the frond base, becoming subentire towards the apex, angled at ± 45° towards the apex. Sterile aerial fronds: stipe 11-16 cm long, lamina ovate to elliptic, 16-32 × 12-15 cm, pinnate, terminal portion pinnatifid, not gemmiferous; pinnae oblong-lanceolate, apex pointed, base unequally wedge-shaped, sessile to asymmetrically adnate, margins entire to widely and shallowly serrate. Fertile aerial fronds: similar to sterile aerial fronds but with the pinnae much narrower and thus more widely spaced. Sporangia either covering the whole undersurface of the pinna or in irregular patches.
Notes	Can be distinguished from other species by its trimorphic not gemmiferous fronds and its aquatic habit.
Derivation	heudelotii: named after J. Heudelot, a French explorer who collected plants in Guinea and Senegal from 1828 to 1837.
Habitat	Grows partly submerged in streambeds or along streambanks on deeply shaded rocks in forest, especially in waterfalls.
Distribution worldwide	See African distribution.
Distribution in Africa	Angola , Benin , Burkina Fasso , Burundi , Cameroon , Central African Republic , Congo , Dem. Republic of Congo , Ethiopia , Gabon , Ghana , Guinea , Ivory Coast , Kenya , Liberia , Malawi , Mali , Mozambique , Nigeria , Sierra Leone , South Africa , Tanzania , Togo , Zambia , Zimbabwe .
Growth form	Lithophytic.
Literature	Burrows, J.E. (1990) Southern African Ferns and Fern Allies. Frandsen, Sandton. Page 296. (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 496 - 497. (Includes a picture). Jacobsen, W.B.G. (1983) The Ferns and Fern Allies of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban and Pretoria. Pages 428 - 429. (Includes a picture). Mickel, J.T. (2002) Lomariopsidaceae.Flora of Tropical East Africa, Pages 6 - 7. (Includes a picture). Roux, J.P. (2001) Conspectus of Southern African Pteridophyta.Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report, 13 Page 147. 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 115 - 116. Schelpe, E.A.C.L.E. (1970) Pteridophyta.Flora Zambesiaca, 0 Pages 218 - 219. (Includes a picture). Tardieu-Blot, M.-L. (1964) Ptéridophytes vol.3.Flore du Cameroun, Pages 319 - 320. (Includes a picture). Thardieu-Blot, M.L. (1964) Ptéridophytes vol.8.Flore du Gabon, Pages 188 - 189.