Aleuritopteris welwitschii (Hook. ex Bak.) Ching

welwitschii: named after the Austrian botanist, Friedrich Martin Welwitsch (1806-1872)

Rhizome creeping, branching, up to 2 mm in diameter, rhizome scales dark-brown, 1-2 mm in length. Fronds closely spaced, about 5 mm apart, erect. Stipe brown to castaneous, glossy, up to 24 cm long, with scattered pale brown lanceolate scales basally and occasionally yellow powder near the base, especially when young. Lamina lanceolate to narrowly ovate in outline, up to 250 × 200 mm, 2 to 3-pinnatifid; pinnae widely spaced, subglabrous, dark green above, covered with pale yellow to orange powder beneath. Pinnae pinnatifid, petiolate or subsessile, ovate-lanceolate; ultimate lobes narrowly oblong, margins crenate. Rhachis brown. Sori marginal, continuous; indusium narrow, lacerate.

Rare

Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe.