Terrestrial, on moist rocky slope in savannah grassland; 5, 000 to 5, 400 ft. alt.
Tronc atteignant 100 x 8-30 cm, dressé, ou rarement procombant, portant des paillettes de 20-50 x 3-6 mm, linéaires-lancéolées, brun foncé.' Feuilles à pétiole de 10-25 (-60) cm, canaliculé, brun, glabre, paléacé dans le bas; feuilles stériles subdressées à étalées, à limbe de 30-100 x 8-40 cm, lancéolé, ordinairement un peu rétréci dans le bas, aigu à acuminé au sommet, penné, glabre sur la face supérieure, ± glabre sur la face inférieure, coriace, à divisions de 4-20 x 1-2 cm, lancéolées à oblongues-lancéolées, asymétriquement rétrécies en une base cunéée du côté supérieur et courtement adnée au rachis du côté inférieur, courtement aiguës à subarrondies au sommet, entières; feuilles fertiles dressées, à limbe de 30-125 x 5-20 cm, oblong-lancéolé, à divisions de 5-12 x 0,4-0,6 cm, sessiles, linéaires, rétrécies et non décurrentes sur le rachis à la base, faisant un angle aigu avec le rachis. Cénosores linéaires, continus et occupant presque toute la longueur des divisions fertiles.
Rhizome erect or procumbent, set with linear-attenuate rhizome scales up to 35 mm long. Sterile pinna with margin entire to the naked eye, unequally cuneate basally, never auriculate, seldom petiolate. Sterile lamina up to 1.4 x 0.36 m. Fertile pinnae subsessile to very shortly petiolate.
Plants terrestrial. Rhizome erect or decumbent, to 900 mm long, to 100 mm in diameter, closely set with roots, crowded persistent stipe bases and scales, scales chartaceous, concolorous and/or bicolorous, bicolorous scales ferrugineous to stramineous with a castaneous, narrow central stripe, sessile, lanceolate-flagelliform to linear-attenuate, cordate to cordate-imbricate, entire or with a few short marginal outgrowths near the base, apex terminates in an oblong thin-walled cell, to 23 mm long, to 3 mm wide. Fronds crowded, caespitose, erect, dimorphic, fertile usually overtop the sterile, sterile to 1.2 m long, fertile to 1.25 m long; stipe rigid, proximally castaneous, stramineous higher up, adaxially sulcate, sterile to 60 mm long, to 6 mm in diameter, fertile to 110 mm long, to 8 mm in diameter, set with unicellular cylindrical glands to 112 µm long, and scales, smaller scales filiform, larger scales similar to those on the rhizome; lamina 1-pinnate, sterile oblong-obtuse to oblong-acute, gradually reduced towards the base, basal pinnae widely spaced, more closely spaced and often imbricate towards the apex, to 1.1 m long, to 300 mm wide, with up to 14 free pinna pairs, fertile oblong-obtuse, gradually reduced towards the base, basal pinnae widely spaced, more closely spaced to crowded higher up, to 1.14 m long, to 230 mm wide, with up to 42 pinna pairs; rachis firm, stramineous, adaxially sulcate, sulcus not open to that of the costae, pronounced abaxially, variously set with glands and scales similar to those on the stipe; pinnae coriaceous, pale green, sterile sessile, oblong-cuneate, entire, base inequilateral, acroscopically narrowly cuneate, basiscopically cuneate to obtuse, gradually basiscopically decurrent along the rachis towards the apex, to 190 mm long, to 17 mm wide, fertile sessile, linear, to 215 mm long, to 4 mm wide, adaxially with scattered unicellular cylindrical glands to 112 µm long, abaxially with glands and scales, scales initially closely set along the costa, chartaceous, ferrugineous to stramineous, sessile, lanceolate-flagelliform to filiform, cordate to narrowly cuneate, entire, or irregularly set with scattered marginal outgrowths, apex terminates in an oblong thin-walled cell, to 11 mm long, to 0.5 mm wide; costa adaxially shallowly sulcate. Venation adaxially obscure, evident abaxially, forked, in the sterile, free branches end near the margin, in the fertile the veins anastomose to form a continuous near-marginal vascular commissure. Sori linear, extending most of the pinna length; indusium firmly chartaceous, brown, near-marginal, linear, lacerate; sporangium long-stalked, simple, 3-seriate below capsule, capsule broadly elliptic in lateral view, with (16-)19(-20) indurated annulus cells, epistomium (6-)7(-9)-celled, hypostomium (4-)6(-8)-celled. Spores 64 per sporangium, brown, elliptic, monolete, with low reticulate ridges, granulate, (58-)63.29(-72) x (46-)49.52(-54) µm.
Perennial with thick, erect rhizome. Fronds erect to suberect, coriaceous, to 1.6 m long, stipe proximally scaled, lamina coriaceous, narrowly oblong, to 1.4 m long, 1-pinnate, sterile pinnae subsessile, entire, fertile pinnae subsessile to shortly petiolate. Sori extending most of the length of the fertile pinnae, indusium lacerate.
Rhizome erect or procumbent, up to 0.9 m long and 0.1 m in diameter, set with very narrowly linear-attenuate, entire rhizome-scales up to 35 mm long with a dark brown to ebeneous central stripe and pale borders. Fronds erect to suberect, coriaceous, dimorphous; stipe pale brown, with a conspicuous tuft of scales basally; lamina narrowly oblong, acute, up to 1.4 x 0.36 m, with a narrowly oblong acute terminal segment, base with up to 9 pairs of gradually reduced pinnae, the lowest rudimentary; sterile pinnae subsessile with an unequally cuneate base, entire, usually revolute, upper surface glabrous, lower surface set with hairlike scales and with ovate-fimbriate scales along costa; fertile pinnae subsessile to very shortly petiolate. Sori extending almost the whole length of fertile pinnae; indusium pale brown, linear, lacerate at maturity, c. 1.5 mm broad.
Sites assez humides et découverts, pourtour des marais, galeries forestières, dépressions, parfois aussi en lisières forestières; de (800-) 1 500 à 2 300 m dans la dition et en Afrique équatoriale, de 950 à 1 500 m au Natal, de 300 à 1 000 m au Cap.
Grassland, in moist depressions and around boulder bases.
Terrestrial or epilithic, at boulder bases, along streams, in ditches and in seepage areas in submontane grassveld, exposed or partially shaded. Not edaphically bound.
Moist but exposed slopes and screes from 300 to 1650 m elevation. In the summer rainfall area, in grassland, either in moist depressions or around boulder bases, always in full exposure, at altitudes from 900 to 1450 m.
Nigeria, Cameroun, Éthiopie, Uganda, Tanzanie, Malawi, Zambie, Angola, Rhodésie, Mozambique, Ngwane, Union sud-africaine. — On a rapporté à la même espèce des plantes de Madagascar, des Mascareignes, de Tristan da Cunha et d'Amérique du Sud.
The species is widespread in the mountainous regions of sub-Saharan Africa and the western Indian Ocean region.
Cape Province, Natal, Transvaal, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Angola, Zaire, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar.
