Hymenophyllum capense Schrad.

capense: of the Cape, this fern was first collected from the Cape of Good Hope

Rhizome very wiry and thin, creeping and branching freely. Fronds spaced apart, variable in form and size depending on humidity and protection given by the habitat. Stipe up to 7 cm long, glabrous. Lamina narrowly ovate to lanceolate in outline, 1.5-11 × 1-3 cm, 2- or 3-pinnatifid, glabrous. Pinnae up to 1 cm long, somewhat acroscopically developed and directed forward, ultimate lobes up to 15 per pinna, rounded, margin entire. Sori on acroscopic segments situated in the upper half of the frond, oval to obtriangular, 1 or 2 per pinna, soral valves entire.

South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe. Also Seychelles, Comoro Islands, Mascarenes and Madagascar.