Polypodium ensiforme Thunb.
Synonyms |
Microsorum ensiforme (Thunb.) Schelpe |
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Common name |
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Description |
Rhizome creeping, 4-7 mm in diameter; rhizome scales dense, dark brown, linear lanceolate in outline, c. 2 mm long, margins pale, filamentous. Fronds spaced 0.4-3 cm apart, stiff, erect, thickly coriacous, almost fleshy. Stipe 0.5-16 cm long, brown, darker towards the base, glabrous. Lamina 12-30 x 5-15 cm, deeply pinnatifid to pinnate, rarely completely simple. Ultimate lobes narrowly oblong in outline, base flared, adnate, gradually tapering to the stipe, 5-10 mm wide, angled forward towards the apex at 45-30° from the axis, both surfaces hairless, margins wavy to shallowly scalloped. Sori round to oval, 1-3 mm in diameter, in a single row on either side of the costule. |
Notes | There is a record of a small, simple fronded form with fronds 3-7 cm long as a result of growing in an exposed situation in rock crevices. |
Derivation | ensiforme: shaped like a sword; possibly alluding to the shape of the apical lamina segment of this species. |
Habitat | Evergreen forest, close to the coast and receiving high rainfall throughout most of the year. |
Distribution worldwide | See African distribution. |
Distribution in Africa |
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Growth form |
Epiphytic, lithophytic. |
Literature |
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