Dryopteris pentheri (Krasser) C.Chr.

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

Type

South Africa, Van Reenen’s Pass, 4 March 1895, Krook s.n., sub Penther Plantae Austro-Africanae 36 (W 8042!, lecto.; BM!, isolecto.) designated by Pichi Sermolli (166: 1985)

Morphology General Habit

Terrestrial or epilithic.

Vegetative Multiplication Rhizomes

Rhizome short-decumbent, sparsely branched, up to 20 mm in diameter, with closely spaced stipe bases and with stramineous to ferrugineous linear, oblong or narrowly ovate scales to 37 × 6 mm, with long twisted filiform outgrowths.

Morphology Leaves

Fronds tufted, erect to arching, up to 1.8 m long.

Morphology Leaves Stipes

Stipe proximally castaneous, brown to stramineous higher up, up to 49 cm long and 10 mm in diameter, near base with dense stramineous to ferrugineous narrowly lanceolate to filiform scales up to 40 × 7 mm, with long twisted filiform outgrowths and often also with scattered glands, scales higher up fugaceous.

Morphology Leaves Leaf lamina

Lamina herbaceous, ovate to ovatetriangular, up to 78 cm long, 2-pinnate to 3-pinnate.

Morphology Leaves Rachis

Rachis stramineous, becoming narrowly winged towards apex, with fugaceous narrowly lanceolate to linear scales up to 7 × 2 mm.

Morphology Leaves Pinnae

Pinnae in up to 16 stalked pairs, basal pinna pair inaequilaterally ovate to oblong-acuminate towards lamina apex, basal pair longest, mostly basiscopically developed, up to 315 × 185 mm, with up to 9 stalked pinnule pairs; pinna-rachis narrowly winged distally, abaxially with scales up to 5 mm × 1.6 mm and hairs of three types (unicellular, bicellular and pluricellular simple or branched).

Morphology Leaves Pinnules

Pinnules lanceolate to oblong-acuminate, basiscopically decurrent, acroscopic pinnule on basal pinnae up to 90 × 35 mm, basiscopic pinnule on basal pinnae up to 112 × 42 mm; segments ovate to oblong-obtuse, basiscopically decurrent, up to 22 × 9 mm, lobed, lobes serrate, adaxially glabrous, with oblong glands along and between veins, or with a few hairs along costule, abaxially sparsely set with glands and hairs mostly along costule and veins

Morphology Reproductive morphology Sori

Sori medial on predominantly anadromous vein branches, discrete, circular, up to 1.8 mm in diameter at maturity, essentially uniseriate; sporangium stalk simple, or with one or more glandular cells, but mostly with a long multicellular, uniseriate hair; indusium persistent, pale brown, firmly herbaceous, reniform, entire, repand, or erose, (rarely glandular along margin), often strongly revolute, up to 1.8 mm in diameter

Morphology Reproductive morphology Spores

Spores with perispore folded into tubercules or reticulate ridges, finely rugose to ruminate, 38–60 × 27–40 mm

Ecology

Terrestrial or epilithic, in woodland, riverine and montane forests, roadcuttings, but at higher elevations (> 2000 m) in grasslands, moorlands and giant heath zone ; (700–)900–2700(–2900) m

Conservation

Widespread; least concern (LC)

Note

Vida, in Helv. Chim. Acta 56: 2129 (1973), under D. inaequalis, report the species as tetraploid: 2 n = 164 ±4 and 2n = ± 164.

Distribution

Flora districts: U2 K3 K4 K5 K7 Flora districts: T2–4, 6–8, Guinea-Bissau, Bioko, Cameroon, Burundi, Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho and South Africa; Madagascar