Asplenium friesiorum C. Chr.

Syn:

Photos: Petra Ballings, Vumba and Ballings 62, 20-05-2001, Naro Muro Vumba, private collection

Fern with a creeping rhizome. The fronds are widely spaced and not proliferous. The lamina (125-1010 x 35-250 mm) is pinnate to 2-pinnatifid and narrowly oblong in outline. The pinnae are pinnatifid with incised margins, the incisions going 1/3 to 2/3 of the way towards the midrib. Linear sori are set almost contiguous in two lines along the midrib, indusium is entire.

Ecology: Terrestrial or lithophytic fern of high altitudes (1000 - 2100m) in deep shade in cool, misty areas.

Derivation of the specific name: probably named after R.E. Fries (1876-1966), a Swedish bottanist who joined the Swedish Rhodesia-Congo Expedition (1911-1912)

Distribution in southern Africa: Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa

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