Dryopteris kilemensis (Kuhn) Kuntze

Dryopteridaceae, JP Roux, M Shaffer-Fehre, B Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2007

Type

Tanzania, Kilimandjaro, Dschagga, Kersten 46 (B, holo.)

Morphology General Habit

Terrestrial or epilithic.

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes

Rhizome erect to suberect, short, up to 15 mm in diameter, with crowded stipe bases and ferrugineous subulate to lanceolate scales up to 30 × 4 mm, entire or with a few filiform outgrowths near apex

Morphology Leaves

Fronds tufted, arching, up to 1.5 m long.

Morphology Leaves Stipes

Stipe proximally castaneous, stramineous higher up, up to 82 cm long and 9 mm in diameter, proximally densely scaly, subglabrous higher up, scales ferrugineous to castaneous, filiform to broadly ovate, up to 40 × 9 mm, entire or with a few filiform outgrowths near base or apex, occasionally with a few scattered glands and short uniseriate hairs.

Morphology Leaves Leaf lamina

Lamina herbaceous, broadly ovate, up to 63 cm long, up to 4-pinnate-pinnatifid.

Morphology Leaves Rachis

Rachis stramineous, becoming narrowly winged towards apex, with sparse scales up to 6 × 3 mm, similar to, but smaller than those on stipe.

Morphology Leaves Pinnae

Pinnae with up to 14 stalked pairs, basal pair inaequilaterally ovate, ovate to lanceolate towards lamina apex, basal pair longest, basiscopically developed, up to 35 × 23 cm, with up to 12 stalked pinnule pairs; pinna-rachis often closely set with unicellular glandular hairs and scales, abaxially with sparse scales up to 4.5 × 2.7 mm, similar to, but smaller than those on rachis.

Morphology Leaves Pinnules

Pinnules ovate, acroscopic pinnule on basal pinnae up to 105 × 29 mm, basiscopic pinnule on basal pinnae up to 150 × 70 mm, with up to 9 stalked segment pairs; costa with sparse scales similar to, but smaller than those on pinna-rachis; segments petiolate, ovate, with up to 3 stalked ultimate segment pairs, spaced, basiscopic segment on the basal pinnule to 44 × 20 mm, acroscopic segment on basal pinnule up to 28 × 14 mm; ultimate segments oblongobtuse, deeply lobed, lobes serrate to obtusely dentate, glabrous adaxially, abaxially glabrous or often with glands along veins, with isocytic hairs, and scales to 1.5 × 0.7 mm

Morphology Reproductive morphology Sori

Sori circular, inframedial, discrete at maturity, to 1 mm in diameter; sporangium stalk simple, glandular, or rarely with a pluricellular uniseriate hair; indusium brown, firmly herbaceous, reniform, entire or glandular along margin (rarely also on surface), up to 1 mm in diameter

Morphology Reproductive morphology Spores

Spores with low tubercules and/or long reticulate ridges, minutely rugulose to minutely scabrous, 32–42 × 20–26 mm.

Figures

Figure 13: 2, p40

Ecology

Wet montane forests, swamp forests, bamboo zone and giant heath zone; (1150–)1850–2700(–3500) m

Conservation

Widespread; least concern (LC)

Note

Vida, in Helv. Chim. Acta 56: 2129 (1973) report the species as diploid: 2n = ± 82.

Distribution

Flora districts: U2 U3 K4 K5 K7 T1 T2 T3 T6 T7 Range: Burundi, Cameroon, Congo-Kinshasa, Ethiopia, Sudan, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe