| Home | > | List of families | > | Blechnaceae | > | Blechnum | > | punctulatum |
| Synonyms: |
Blechnum atherstonei Pappe & Rawson Lomaria punctulatum (Sw.) Kunze |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | Rare |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Rhizome creeping to suberect, up to 4 cm in diameter; scales dark brown, linear, up to 2 cm long, margins pale, entire. Fronds dimorphic, tufted. Stipe up to 10 cm long, glabrous but with scales towards the base. Sterile lamina 3.3-80 cm × 1.2-12 cm, narrowly lanceolate in outline, attenuate, sometimes falcate, pinnate with basal pinnae gradually decrescent; pinnae narrowly oblong, glabrous, margins entire,base with truncate lobes overlapping the rhachis. Fertile lamina reduced; pinnae 1-4 (7-12?) mm wide, linear. Sori linear, set parallel to the costa, interrupted and breaking into discrete, often oval segments, particularly towards the base; indusium linear, subentire, sometimes discrete. |
| Notes: | All morphological features of this variety are similar to var. punctulatum, but it differs by its interrupted sori and broader (7-12mm) fertile pinnae (Jacobson.1983) |
| Derivation of specific name: | athersonei: named after W.G. Atherstone (1814-1898), medical practitioner, geologist and naturalist. |
| Habitat: | Forest floors and forest margin in light to full shade. |
| Altitude range: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Malawi, South Africa, Eswatini |
| Malawi distribution: | 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. (1990). Southern African Ferns and Fern Allies. Frandsen, Sandton. Page 334. Burrows, J.E. & Burrows, S.M. (1993). An annotated check-list of the pteridophytes of Malawi Kirkia 14(1) Page 99. Crouch, N.R., Klopper, R.R., Burrows, J.E. & Burrows, S.M. (2011). Ferns of Southern Africa, A comprehensive guide Struik Nature Page 738. (Includes a picture). Jacobsen, W.B.G. (1983). The Ferns and Fern Allies of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban and Pretoria. Pages 467 - 468. (Includes a picture). Roux, J.P. (2001). Conspectus of Southern African Pteridophyta. Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report 13 Page 155. Roux, J.P. (2009). Synopsis of the Lycopodiophyta and Pteridophyta of Africa, Madagascar and neighbouring islands Page 104. |
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