Thelypteris interrupta
Thelypteris ovata
Hottentot fern, spready tri-vein fern, Willdenow's fern, Willdenow's maiden fern
ovate maiden fern, ovate marsh fern
long-creeping, cordlike, 3–6 mm diam.
usually long-creeping, 3–6 mm diam.
monomorphic, evergreen, 3–6 cm apart, 50–150(–250) cm.
monomorphic, evergreen, (0.5–)1–4 cm apart, (30–)55–135(–165) cm.
straw-colored to tan, 20–125 cm × 3–6 mm, scaleless.
straw-colored, 15–80 cm × 2–6 mm, at base with tan to brownish, linear-lanceolate, hairy scales.
30–125 cm, broadest at base, gradually narrowed distally to pinnatifid apex.
about equaling petiole length, broadest at base, gradually to somewhat abruptly tapered to pinnatifid apex.
7–30 × 1–2 cm, incised 1/3–1/2(–3/5) of width;
segments deltate, rounded to acute;
proximal pair of veins from adjacent segments united at acute or obtuse angle below sinus, with excurrent vein 2–4 mm.
(5–)10–25 × 0.8–2.2 cm, incised 4/5 of width;
segments oblique, somewhat curved, basal pair from middle pinnae often elongate parallel to rachis;
proximal pair of veins from adjacent segments reaching margin at or just above sinus.
round, medial to supramedial;
indusia tan, glabrous to hairy;
sporangia with red- or orange-capped, stalked, globose glands arising from sporangial stalks.
round, supramedial to inframarginal;
indusia tan, hairy, hairs mostly 0.2–0.4 mm;
sporangia glabrous.
abaxially of hairs 0.1–0.3 mm on costae and veins, or hairs often lacking, costae also with tan, ovate scales;
veins, costules, and costae adaxially glabrous or sparsely pubescent;
blade tissue without hairs on both sides, or hairy abaxially, usually with red to orange, shiny, sessile, hemispheric glands abaxially.
abaxially of hairs mostly 0.2–0.5 mm on costae, veins, and blade tissue, also sometimes of a few tan scales on costae and rachises;
blades adaxially glabrous except along rachises and costae.
= 144.
= 72.
Thelypteris interrupta
Thelypteris ovata
D. B. Lellinger (1985) applied the name Thelypteris interrupta to specimens from India, while using T. totta (type from South Africa) for North American and South American specimens. Diploid cytotypes are known from Africa and Asia, whereas all counts from the Neotropics are tetraploid. Until more counts are available and the morphologic variation (chiefly in glands, pubescence, and leaf size) in this species complex is better understood, I prefer to circumscribe the species broadly.
R. E. Holttum (1982) circumscribed Cyclosorus (as a genus) to include this species and one or two others.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Scales usually absent on costae abaxially; blade tissue glabrous adaxially; petiole base and stem scales brownish. | var. ovata |
1. Scales few, very narrow, on costae abaxially; blade tissue minutely pubescent or glabrous adaxially; petiole base and stem scales tan. | var. lindheimeri |
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