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[family THELYPTERIDACEAE]

Date Updated: 19 August 2007

Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of Tropical East Africa, page 1, (2006) Author: BERNARD VERDCOURT
Names
[family THELYPTERIDACEAE]
Information
Terrestrial ferns. Rhizome creeping or erectwith brown non-peltate scales. Stipe not articulated, with 2 vascular strands at base which fuse upwards to form a single U-shaped strand. Lamina 1–2-pinnate or rarely 3-pinnatifid, usually narrowly oblong in outline, glabrous to pubescent or pilose; the indumentum often comprises stiff acicular unicellular hairs, glands of various sorts and fine soft hairs, sometimes hooked at the apex (multicellular hairs present only in one introduced genus, see addendum p. 41); scales are also sometimes present in two African genera along the costae or costules. Veins free or few to many pairs of veins arising from adjoining costules anastomosing into a vein which runs to the sinus between the pinna-lobes. Sori round, with or without a reniform indusium to linear and exindusiate. Spores monolete with perispore.
Range
Holttum divides the family up into 23 genera and stated perhaps 1000 species worldwide. It was partly the large number in Asia (some ten times as many as in Africa) and the cumbrous nature of the Asian species being treated as one genus that forced him to the practical alternative of separate genera; but he admitted that for those concerned only with Africa or part of Africa it was a perfectly reasonable alternative to adopt the one genus Thelypteris as was done by Schelpe in F.Z. Pteridophyta. A.R. Smith in Kubitzki, Fam. Gen. Vasc. Pl. 1: 263–272 (1990) and in Fl. Mesoamericana 1, has recognised 5 genera with numerous subgenera. J.P. Roux, Consp. S. Afr. Pterid. 113–122 (2001) follows Holttum’s classification. Twelve genera, 26 species and one hybrid are dealt with in the present account.
Notes
Many of the species have been placed in numerous different genera during the past 250 years and for some species the resulting synonymy runs to several pages. A great deal of this that is not relevant to East Africa has been omitted. HYBRIDS. Holttum mentions (J. S. Afr. Bot. 40: 142 (1974)) under species 3 that the type of Thelypteris dentata var. buchananii is probably a hybrid between Christella dentata and Pneumatopteris afra. Quite a number of East African sheets seem to be similar. The hybrid Pneumatopteris afra x Christella dentata has been given a name based on West African material and it is convenient to use it.

Date Updated: 19 August 2007

Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of Tropical East Africa, page 1, (2006) Author: BERNARD VERDCOURT
Names
[family THELYPTERIDACEAE]
Information
Terrestrial ferns. Rhizome creeping or erectwith brown non-peltate scales. Stipe not articulated, with 2 vascular strands at base which fuse upwards to form a single U-shaped strand. Lamina 1–2-pinnate or rarely 3-pinnatifid, usually narrowly oblong in outline, glabrous to pubescent or pilose; the indumentum often comprises stiff acicular unicellular hairs, glands of various sorts and fine soft hairs, sometimes hooked at the apex (multicellular hairs present only in one introduced genus, see addendum p. 41); scales are also sometimes present in two African genera along the costae or costules. Veins free or few to many pairs of veins arising from adjoining costules anastomosing into a vein which runs to the sinus between the pinna-lobes. Sori round, with or without a reniform indusium to linear and exindusiate. Spores monolete with perispore.
Range
Holttum divides the family up into 23 genera and stated perhaps 1000 species worldwide. It was partly the large number in Asia (some ten times as many as in Africa) and the cumbrous nature of the Asian species being treated as one genus that forced him to the practical alternative of separate genera; but he admitted that for those concerned only with Africa or part of Africa it was a perfectly reasonable alternative to adopt the one genus Thelypteris as was done by Schelpe in F.Z. Pteridophyta. A.R. Smith in Kubitzki, Fam. Gen. Vasc. Pl. 1: 263–272 (1990) and in Fl. Mesoamericana 1, has recognised 5 genera with numerous subgenera. J.P. Roux, Consp. S. Afr. Pterid. 113–122 (2001) follows Holttum’s classification. Twelve genera, 26 species and one hybrid are dealt with in the present account.
Notes
Many of the species have been placed in numerous different genera during the past 250 years and for some species the resulting synonymy runs to several pages. A great deal of this that is not relevant to East Africa has been omitted. HYBRIDS. Holttum mentions (J. S. Afr. Bot. 40: 142 (1974)) under species 3 that the type of Thelypteris dentata var. buchananii is probably a hybrid between Christella dentata and Pneumatopteris afra. Quite a number of East African sheets seem to be similar. The hybrid Pneumatopteris afra x Christella dentata has been given a name based on West African material and it is convenient to use it.

Date Updated: 19 August 2007

Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of Tropical East Africa, page 1, (2006) Author: BERNARD VERDCOURT
Names
[family THELYPTERIDACEAE]
Information
Terrestrial ferns. Rhizome creeping or erectwith brown non-peltate scales. Stipe not articulated, with 2 vascular strands at base which fuse upwards to form a single U-shaped strand. Lamina 1–2-pinnate or rarely 3-pinnatifid, usually narrowly oblong in outline, glabrous to pubescent or pilose; the indumentum often comprises stiff acicular unicellular hairs, glands of various sorts and fine soft hairs, sometimes hooked at the apex (multicellular hairs present only in one introduced genus, see addendum p. 41); scales are also sometimes present in two African genera along the costae or costules. Veins free or few to many pairs of veins arising from adjoining costules anastomosing into a vein which runs to the sinus between the pinna-lobes. Sori round, with or without a reniform indusium to linear and exindusiate. Spores monolete with perispore.
Range
Holttum divides the family up into 23 genera and stated perhaps 1000 species worldwide. It was partly the large number in Asia (some ten times as many as in Africa) and the cumbrous nature of the Asian species being treated as one genus that forced him to the practical alternative of separate genera; but he admitted that for those concerned only with Africa or part of Africa it was a perfectly reasonable alternative to adopt the one genus Thelypteris as was done by Schelpe in F.Z. Pteridophyta. A.R. Smith in Kubitzki, Fam. Gen. Vasc. Pl. 1: 263–272 (1990) and in Fl. Mesoamericana 1, has recognised 5 genera with numerous subgenera. J.P. Roux, Consp. S. Afr. Pterid. 113–122 (2001) follows Holttum’s classification. Twelve genera, 26 species and one hybrid are dealt with in the present account.
Notes
Many of the species have been placed in numerous different genera during the past 250 years and for some species the resulting synonymy runs to several pages. A great deal of this that is not relevant to East Africa has been omitted. HYBRIDS. Holttum mentions (J. S. Afr. Bot. 40: 142 (1974)) under species 3 that the type of Thelypteris dentata var. buchananii is probably a hybrid between Christella dentata and Pneumatopteris afra. Quite a number of East African sheets seem to be similar. The hybrid Pneumatopteris afra x Christella dentata has been given a name based on West African material and it is convenient to use it.
[family THELYPTERIDACEAE]
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