Cheilanthes - Sinopteridaceae

Cheilanthes kunzei Mett.

 

 

 

 

Synonyms

Pellaea hastata (L.f.) Link var. minor (Kunze) Schelpe
Cheilanthes profusa Kunze var. minor Kunze

Common name

Description

Rhizome shortly creeping, c. 2.5 mm in diameter; rhizome scales linear in outline, apex gradually tapering to a point, up to 3 mm long, pale brown. Fronds monomorphic, tufted, held almost flat against the ground. Stipe 0.5-2.5 cm long, grooved in distal half, dark brown, hairless. Lamina pinnate to 3-pinnatifid on the basal pinnae, narrowly elliptic to narrowly ovate in outline, 2.5-10 x 0.8-4 cm; ultimate segments deltate to round, apex rounded, hairless on both surfaces; venation free; rhachis slightly winged towards the apex, hairless. Sori marginal, discontinuous, leaving the sinuses barren; indusium erose.

Notes

Derivation

kunzei: named after G. Kunze (1793-1851), professor of botany and medicine in Leipzig, he described many southern African ferns.

Habitat

On moist soil surfaces with mosses and liverworths, around base of granite boulders, in shaded rock crevices and recesses.

Distribution worldwide

See African distribution.

Distribution in Africa

Namibia, South Africa.

Growth form

Terrestrial.

Literature

  • Burrows, J.E. (1990) Southern African Ferns and Fern Allies. Frandsen, Sandton. Page 143. (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 378 - 379. (Includes a picture).
  • Jacobsen, W.B.G. (1983) The Ferns and Fern Allies of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban and Pretoria. Page 282. Note
  • 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 183.

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