Asplenium nidus L.
Synonyms |
Neottopteris nidus (L.) J.Sm |
|---|---|
Common name |
Birds Nest Fern. |
Description |
Rhizome erect, thick (at least to 2.5 cm but probably more); rhizome scales golden brown, narrowly triangular in outline, to 25 x 3 mm, margins with protuberances, apex gradually tapering into a hair-tip. Fronds tufted. Stipe blackish, almost absent or to 5 cm long. Lamina very shiny with black midrib (fide Verdcourt), coriaceous, narrowly elliptic, 70–200 x (10.5–)15–22 cm, simple, apex gradually tapering to a sharp point; costa raised above, almost flat beneath; veins forked from near base, dense and at 30–45° to midrib, united just before margin with a marginal vein; veins and costa scaly when young, glabrescent. Sori along the veins in the distal half of the lamina, from near midrib/costa to 1/4 to 1/2 of the width of the lamina, linear, (5–)17–58 mm long; indusium membranous, entire, to 0.5 mm wide. |
Notes | |
Derivation | nidus: nest, a place in which something is formed or deposited, a site of origin. |
Habitat | Moist Forest, closed bush. |
Distribution worldwide | Africa, Madagascar, Indian Ocean Isl., India, China, Japan, SE Asia, N Australia, Micronesia, Pacific Isl. . |
Distribution in Africa |
|
Growth form |
Epiphytic, lithophytic. |
Literature |
|