| Home | > | List of families | > | Pteridaceae | > | Pityrogramma | > | aurantiaca |
| Synonyms: |
Gymnogramma aurantiaca Hieron. |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Rare |
| Description: |
Rhizome c. 2.5 mm in diameter, short- to long-creeping; rhizome scales lanceolate, margin entire, dark-brown, c.3 mm long. Fronds closely spaced, erect or ± scrambling, firmly membranous or subcoriaceous. Stipe chestnut, glabrous, shining except for a few scales similar to the rhizome-scales near the base. Lamina oblong to ovate-oblong in outline, up to 12 × 7 cm (larger in other tropical African specimens), 2–3-pinnate with pinnatifid pinnules; pinnae triangular-ovate, up to 4 cm long; pinna segments of upper pinnae and pinnule segments of lower pinnae oblong to broadly cuneate, up to 6 mm broad, obtuse, very weakly crenate and with the margins sometimes revolute, with (yellow to) bright-orange powder on the lower surface, glabrous on the upper surface; rhachis chestnut, shiny; secondary rhachises narrowly winged for most of their length. Sori 1–2 mm long, linear, along the veins; indusium absent. |
| Notes: | The yellow to orange powder on the undersurface of the lamina makes this species easy to recognize. Differs from P. argentea by having a widely creeping rhizome, a more narrowly oblong lamina and the undersurface of the lamina that is covered by a orange powder. |
| Derivation of specific name: | |
| Habitat: | Forming tussocks in high-altitude marshes |
| Altitude range: | 2340 m (approx) |
| Worldwide distribution: | Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda |
| Malawi distribution: | N,S |
| Growth form(s): | Terrestrial. |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Literature: |
Burrows, J.E. & Burrows, S.M. (1993). An annotated check-list of the pteridophytes of Malawi Kirkia 14(1) Page 86. Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 40. (Includes a picture). Roux, J.P. (2001). Conspectus of Southern African Pteridophyta. Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report 13 Page 57. Roux, J.P. (2009). Synopsis of the Lycopodiophyta and Pteridophyta of Africa, Madagascar and neighbouring islands Page 177. Schelpe, E.A.C.L.E. (1970). Pteridophyta Flora Zambesiaca Page 107. Verdcourt, B. (2002). Adiantaceae Flora of Tropical East Africa Pages 43 - 44. |
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