Pteridophyta

Lygodiaceae - Climbing ferns

Burrows, J.E. (1990) Southern African Ferns and Fern Allies. Frandsen, Sandton.

Crouch, N.R., Klopper, R.R., Burrows, J.E. & Burrows, S.M. (2011) Ferns of Southern Africa, A comprehensive guide Struik Nature

Jacobsen, W.B.G. (1983) The Ferns and Fern Allies of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban and Pretoria.

Roux, J.P. (2001) Conspectus of Southern African Pteridophyta. Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report 13

Roux, J.P. (2009) Synopsis of the Lycopodiophyta and Pteridophyta of Africa, Madagascar and neighbouring islands

Schelpe, E.A.C.L.E. (1970) Pteridophyta FZ

Description of the family

Plants terrestrial, climber. Rhizome horizontal creeping, slender, dichotomously branched. Fronds climbing, numerous, dimorphic, specialised fertile pinnae with strongly reduced lamina parts bearing aggregated sporangia in marginal spike-like masses; with a slender twisting indeterminate rhachis, stipe cylindric, rhachis cylindrical to slightly flattened adaxially. Indumentum composed of single uniseriate hairs confined to the frond axes and veins, veins free.
The climbing stem is in fact the stipe and the rhachis of an elongated frond. Secondary rhachis branches absent or present, alternate, dichotomously branched, with an arrested apical bud in each bifurcation. Pinnae borne in pairs along the secondary rhachis. Pinnae pinnate to 3-pinnatifid. Sporangia borne along the margins of pinnule lobes, borne seperately in 2 rows at the veins endings, each sporangium subtended by an indusia-like flange covering it abaxially, homosporous.

Worldwide: 1 genus, c. 40 species worldwide

More sample images from the Lygodiaceae (Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record)

Lygodium kerstenii

Links to genera: View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this family

Genus	Content
Lygodium Sw.	Description, Image

Other sources of information about Lygodiaceae:

Flora of Mozambique: Lygodiaceae
GRIN (Germplasm Resources Information Network) taxonomy for plants report for Lygodiaceae
Google: Web - Images - Scholar