Pteris - Pteridaceae

Pteris camerooniana Kuhn

 

 

 

 

Synonyms

Pteris manniana Mett. ex Kühn
Pteris jungeri Brause & Hieron.

Common name

Description

Rhizome thick, short creeping; rhizome scales lanceolate, with 2 kinds of cells, the central ones with thick walls, brown, light red, the lateral ones short, thin, clear. Fronds closely spaced, lanceolate-oblong in outline, 20-35 x 10-15 cm, imparipinnate, terminal pinna resembling lateral pinnae, petiolate, often with a gemma at the base. Stipe 20-25 cm, base reddish and with scales, higher up strawcoloured and glabrous. Lamina with 7-15 pair pinnae, basal pinnae often bipinnate, pinnae alternate, spaced, linear-lanceolate in outline, 10-15 x 0.5-1 cm, apex tapering, base attenuate, wedge-shaped, not decurrent on the rhachis, margins enrire, slightly wavy; veins free, often forked at the base.

Notes

Derivation

camerooniana: from Cameroon, where this fern was first found.

Habitat

Forest, borders of raphia streams in shade.

Distribution worldwide

Africa, Madagascar.

Distribution in Africa

Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea (incl. Bioko).

Growth form

Terrestrial.

Literature

  • Roux, J.P. (2009) Synopsis of the Lycopodiophyta and Pteridophyta of Africa, Madagascar and neighbouring islands. Strelitzia 23, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. Page 170.
  • Tardieu-Blot, M.-L. (1964) Ptéridophytes vol.3.Flore du Cameroun, Pages 155 - 156. (Includes a picture).

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