Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn
subsp. centrali-africanum Hieron. ex R.E.Fr.

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Pteridium aquilinum subsp. centrali-africanum

Photo: Bart Wursten
Mtoroshanga Pass, Great Dyke

Pteridium aquilinum subsp. centrali-africanum

Photo: Bart Wursten
Mtoroshanga Pass, Great Dyke

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Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)

Synonyms: Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn subsp. caudatum (L.) Bonap. var. africanum Bonap.
Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn var. africanum (Bonap.) R.M.Tryon
Pteridium centrali-africanum (Hieron.) Alston
Common names:
Frequency: Locally abundant
Status: Native
Description:
Rhizome widely creeping, subterranean, 5-10 mm in diameter; scales brown, very fine, up to 1 mm long. Fronds widely spaced, stiff, erect, hard, subglabrous, 0.5 - 1.75 m tall. Stipe up to 0.5 m long, underground portion swollen and covered with fine, brown hairs, above-ground portion pale-green, glabrous. Lamina 3-pinnatifid to 4-pinnate, triangular in outline. Pinnae stand out from the rhachis horizontally at nearly right angles. Basal pinnae as long as the frond; pinnae in the upper half 2-pinnate. Pinnules deeply incised, adnate to the costules and with apices that are long and narrow. Sori linear, continuous, situated just inside the inrolled margins; pseudo-indusium continuous.
Notes:
Derivation of specific name: aquilinum: of an eagle; either because the spreading pinnae resemble the wings of an aegle or a reference to the shape of the vascular bundle in the stipe.
Habitat: Open Brachystegia woodland, along fringes of riverine vegetation.
Altitude range: (metres) 850 - 2000 m
Worldwide distribution: Angola, Burundi, Congo, DRC, Gabon, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe distribution: N,W,C,S
Growth form(s): Terrestrial.
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters: Display spot characters for this species
Images last updated: Saturday 7 February 2009
Literature:

Burrows, J.E. (1990). Southern African Ferns and Fern Allies. Frandsen, Sandton. Pages 103 - 104. (Includes a picture).

Burrows, J.E. & Burrows, S.M. (1993). An annotated check-list of the pteridophytes of Malawi Kirkia 14(1) Page 85.

Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 28. (Includes a picture).

Da Silva, M.C., Izidine, S. & Amude, A.B. (2004). A preliminary checklist of the vascular plants of Mozambique. Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 30 Sabonet, Pretoria Page 10.

Jacobsen, W.B.G. (1983). The Ferns and Fern Allies of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban and Pretoria. Pages 209 - 210.

Kornas, J. (1979). Distribution and ecology of the Pteridophytes in Zambia Polska Akademia Nauk Wydzial II Nauk Biologicznych Pages 82 - 83.

Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 6.

Roux, J.P. (2001). Conspectus of Southern African Pteridophyta. Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report 13 Pages 89 - 90. (Includes a picture).

Roux, J.P. (2009). Synopsis of the Lycopodiophyta and Pteridophyta of Africa, Madagascar and neighbouring islands Page 112.

Schelpe, E.A.C.L.E. (1970). Pteridophyta Flora Zambesiaca Pages 88 - 89. (Includes a picture).


Other sources of information about Pteridium aquilinum subsp. centrali-africanum:

Our websites:

Flora of Burundi: Pteridium aquilinum subsp. centrali-africanum
Flora of Malawi: Pteridium aquilinum subsp. centrali-africanum
Flora of Mozambique: Pteridium aquilinum subsp. centrali-africanum
Flora of Rwanda: Pteridium aquilinum subsp. centrali-africanum
Flora of Zambia: Pteridium aquilinum subsp. centrali-africanum

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Pteridium aquilinum
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Pteridium aquilinum
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Pteridium aquilinum
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Pteridium aquilinum
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Pteridium aquilinum
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Pteridium aquilinum
JSTOR Plant Science: Pteridium aquilinum
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Pteridium aquilinum
Plants of the World Online: Pteridium aquilinum
Tropicos: Pteridium aquilinum
Wikipedia: Pteridium aquilinum


Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Species information: Pteridium aquilinum subsp. centrali-africanum.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=101330, retrieved 31 October 2024

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