Pteris - Pteridaceae

Pteris commutata Kuhn

Photo: BT. Wursten
Dem. Republic of Congo

Photo: BT. Wursten
Dem. Republic of Congo

Photo: BT. Wursten
Dem. Republic of Congo

Photo: BT. Wursten
Dem. Republic of Congo

Photo: BT. Wursten
Dem. Republic of Congo

Photo: BT. Wursten
Dem. Republic of Congo

 

 

 

 

Synonyms

Pteris grossiloba H.Christ.
Pteris pseudocretica Bonap.

Common name

Description

Rhizome short, erect, creeping or ascending; rhizome scales pale yellow-brown, linear-lanceolate in outline, up to 6 mm long with a dark midrib. Fronds tufted, 0.4–1.6 m tall. Stipe straw-coloured, 20–50(–107) cm long, with some scales at base. Lamina ± oblong, 15–45(–53) x 15–60 cm , with 2–7 pairs of pinnae; rhachis glabrous; pinnae sessile, narrowly oblong-lanceolate in outline, 4–33 x 1.3–3.3 cm, the terminal one long-attenuate with tip serrulate; upper pair of pinnae decurrent at base on outer side; lower pair mostly 2(–3)–fid; others mostly acute at apex, cuneate at the base; pinna margins slightly undulate or sometimes irregularly lobed; veins branching near base (rarely unbranched) and often again nearer the margin where some also anastomose to a varying extent, sometimes only slightly, or virtually free; costae smooth to quite densely spinulose beneath. Sori in marginal lines for most of the length of the fertile fronds.

Notes

Derivation

Habitat

Floor of dense evergreen rain-forest, by forest swamps in deep shade.

Distribution worldwide

See African distribution.

Distribution in Africa

Cameroon, Dem. Republic of Congo, Sudan and South Sudan, Tanzania , Uganda.

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 171.
  • Tardieu-Blot, M.-L. (1964) Ptéridophytes vol.3.Flore du Cameroun, Page 156. (Includes a picture).
  • Verdcourt, B. (2002) Pteridaceae.Flora of Tropical East Africa, Pages 9 - 10.
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