Cheilanthes bergiana Schltdl.

bergiana: named after C.H.Bergius (1790-1818), German collector in the Cape.

Rhizome short, erect, up to 10 mm in diameter, producing underground stolons that give rise to new plants at their tips; rhizome scales dark brown with pale brown margins, lanceolate, margin (sub)entire, up to 9 mm long. Fronds tufted, erect to arching, herbaceous. Stipe dark brown, up to 60 cm long, densely set with short, brown hairs and with narrow scales at the extreme base. Lamina 15-45 cm × 15-50 cm, roughly pentagonal to triangular in outline, 3-pinnate to 5-pinnatifid; lower pinnae basiscopically developed, 2/3-3/4 the length of the lamina, upper pinnae less divided. Pinnules shortly petiolate, deltate-lanceolate in outline; ultimate segments oblong-lanceolate, decurrent, rounded, venation free, both surfaces lightly set with short hairs up to 1 mm long. Rhachis, costae and costules thinly pubescent. Sori small, less than 1 mm in diameter, marginal, discrete; indusium small, lunate, (sub)entire, membranous.

Rare

DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe.