Edit History
Adiantum raddianum C.Presl [family PTERIDACEAE]
Date Updated: 19 August 2007
Herbarium
South African National Biodiversity Institute, Compton Herbarium, Cape Town (SAM)
Collection
Swaziland ferns and fern allies
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Swaziland Ferns and Fern Allies, (2003) Author: J.P. Roux
Names
Adiantum raddianum C.Presl [family PTERIDACEAE]
Common names
raddianum = after Giuseppe Raddi (1770-1829), Italian botanist at Firenze
Vernacular names: Delta maidenhair fern; Vrouehaar (Afr.)
Information
Plants terrestrial or epilithic. Rhizome short-creeping, irregularly branched, to 50 mm long, to 2 mm in diameter, set with roots, closely spaced persistent stipe bases and scales, scales firmly chartaceus, castaneus, adnate, subulate to narrowly triangular, entire to denticulate, apex terminates in a short subulate cell, to 1 mm long, to 0.3 mm wide. Fronds to 4 mm apart, erect to arching, to 640 mm long; stipe firm, atrocastaneus, nitid, terete, to 350 mm long, to 1.2 mm in diameter, basally set with scales similar to those on rhizome, to 2 mm long, to 0.5 mm wide, glabrous apically; lamina anadromous, ovate to broadly ovate, to 3-pinnate, to 300 mm long, to 220 mm wide, with up to 12 pinna pairs; rachis and lower order axes atrocastaneus, nitid, terete, glabrous; pinnae petiolate, petiole to 25 mm long, alternate, basal pinnae largest, more widely spaced than apically, usually overlapping, to 2-pinnate, ovate, to 130 mm long, to 90 mm wide, with up to 8 pinnule pairs; pinnules petiolate, petiole to 8 mm long, alternate, usually overlapping, ovate, to 55 mm long, to 36 mm wide, with up to 5 segment pairs; ultimate segments petiolate, petioles to 2 mm long, alternate, thinly herbaceous, flabellate, narrowly to broadly cuneate, variously lobed, lobes dentate, to 10 mm long, to 10 mm wide, glabrous adaxially and abaxially. Venation evident, flabellately forked, ending in margin in sinus between teeth. Sori borne along outer margin of ultimate segment lobes, on soral flaps which veins enter, soral flaps membranous, subcircular to reniform, to 2 mm in diameter; sporangia confined to veins, sessile, capsule circular to obovate in lateral view, with (19-)19(-21) indurated annulus cells, epistomium (4-)5(-5)-celled, hypostomium (4-)5(-6)-celled, stomium with 3 to 4 narrow cells of which walls are conspicuously thickened; Spores brown, tetrahedral-globose, trilete, rugulose, exospore (40-)44(-48) (m in equatorial diameter. Figure 20F.
Habitat
Ecology: Terrestrial or epilithic, usually in disturbed sites such as earthbanks along roads, but often also in undisturbed habitats, usually in light shade. Not edaphically bound but in Swaziland it is confined to granitic soils. Hemicryptophyte, mesophyte; fronds mesomorphic. Vegetative reproduction by subterranean, short-creeping and branched rhizome. Seasonal pattern nonexistent, but determined by the prevailing environmental conditions.
Use
Use: The species, and many forms of it, is widely cultivated for its ornamental value.
Range
Distribution: The species has become naturalised in the north-western part of Swaziland, occurring at altitudes ranging between 1 300 and 1 400 m. A native of South America now naturalised in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Date Updated: 19 August 2007
Herbarium
South African National Biodiversity Institute, Compton Herbarium, Cape Town (SAM)
Collection
Swaziland ferns and fern allies
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Swaziland Ferns and Fern Allies, (2003) Author: J.P. Roux
Names
Adiantum raddianum C.Presl [family PTERIDACEAE]
Common names
raddianum = after Giuseppe Raddi (1770-1829), Italian botanist at Firenze
Vernacular names: Delta maidenhair fern; Vrouehaar (Afr.)
Information
Plants terrestrial or epilithic. Rhizome short-creeping, irregularly branched, to 50 mm long, to 2 mm in diameter, set with roots, closely spaced persistent stipe bases and scales, scales firmly chartaceus, castaneus, adnate, subulate to narrowly triangular, entire to denticulate, apex terminates in a short subulate cell, to 1 mm long, to 0.3 mm wide. Fronds to 4 mm apart, erect to arching, to 640 mm long; stipe firm, atrocastaneus, nitid, terete, to 350 mm long, to 1.2 mm in diameter, basally set with scales similar to those on rhizome, to 2 mm long, to 0.5 mm wide, glabrous apically; lamina anadromous, ovate to broadly ovate, to 3-pinnate, to 300 mm long, to 220 mm wide, with up to 12 pinna pairs; rachis and lower order axes atrocastaneus, nitid, terete, glabrous; pinnae petiolate, petiole to 25 mm long, alternate, basal pinnae largest, more widely spaced than apically, usually overlapping, to 2-pinnate, ovate, to 130 mm long, to 90 mm wide, with up to 8 pinnule pairs; pinnules petiolate, petiole to 8 mm long, alternate, usually overlapping, ovate, to 55 mm long, to 36 mm wide, with up to 5 segment pairs; ultimate segments petiolate, petioles to 2 mm long, alternate, thinly herbaceous, flabellate, narrowly to broadly cuneate, variously lobed, lobes dentate, to 10 mm long, to 10 mm wide, glabrous adaxially and abaxially. Venation evident, flabellately forked, ending in margin in sinus between teeth. Sori borne along outer margin of ultimate segment lobes, on soral flaps which veins enter, soral flaps membranous, subcircular to reniform, to 2 mm in diameter; sporangia confined to veins, sessile, capsule circular to obovate in lateral view, with (19-)19(-21) indurated annulus cells, epistomium (4-)5(-5)-celled, hypostomium (4-)5(-6)-celled, stomium with 3 to 4 narrow cells of which walls are conspicuously thickened; Spores brown, tetrahedral-globose, trilete, rugulose, exospore (40-)44(-48) (m in equatorial diameter. Figure 20F.
Habitat
Ecology: Terrestrial or epilithic, usually in disturbed sites such as earthbanks along roads, but often also in undisturbed habitats, usually in light shade. Not edaphically bound but in Swaziland it is confined to granitic soils. Hemicryptophyte, mesophyte; fronds mesomorphic. Vegetative reproduction by subterranean, short-creeping and branched rhizome. Seasonal pattern nonexistent, but determined by the prevailing environmental conditions.
Use
Use: The species, and many forms of it, is widely cultivated for its ornamental value.
Range
Distribution: The species has become naturalised in the north-western part of Swaziland, occurring at altitudes ranging between 1 300 and 1 400 m. A native of South America now naturalised in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
![Adiantum raddianum C.Presl [family PTERIDACEAE]](/fsi/img/misc/plants/static_thumbs/swaziland_icon96.jpg)
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