Notes

CONSERVATION Widespread; least concern (LC). The name has been spelled as linkii in some of the literature, but the protologue uses linckii with a ‘c’. Linck was a collector on the von der Decken expedition. There is a link with A. albersii, a 3-pinnatisect taxon. A. albersii var. eickii has very narrow rhizome scales, about 0.3 mm wide, but without the paler margin such as albersii is supposed to have; the lamina is 4-pinnatisect, and the sori 1.5–3 mm long. The protologue already stated “this variety resembles in habitat more A. linkii [sic] Kuhn, as the lamina shape is ovate; but rhizome scales are typically A. albersii.” With this last statement I disagree. Several specimens from U 2 that are 3-pinnatifid or 3-pinnatisect to 3-pinnate could be intermediate, but as they lack basal parts it is impossible to be quite certain: Thomas 2039 from Butale, Esterhuysen 25313 from Bujuku Valley, Thomas 1431 from Bwamba Pass, Thomas 2424 from Mt Mgahinga, Rwaburindore 2894. These specimens are from slightly higher altitudes, 2300–2600 m. Burrows states this resembles a finely-divided form of A. aethiopium or A. uhligii. I agree; Holst 3865 only has the lowermost 2nd-order pinnules divided, and so is only just 4-pinnatisect. Chaerle, in his unpublished Ph.D. thesis, keeps A. decompositum separate, distinct in its lamina dissection and thinner rhizome, as well as lamina shape.