one of the first, 1858
fronds (image on right)
portrait| Adiantum venustum | ||
|
Etymology
Venustum means handsome or charming.
Description
Rhizome: long-creeping, branching, to 2 mm, scales dark brown.
Frond: 30 cm high by 15 cm wide, deciduous, monomorphic, blade/stipe ratio: 3:2. Stipe: dark purplish to nearly black, grooved above, scaly at base, glabrous in upper portion, 2 mm diam., vascular bundles: 1 or 2. Blade: 3-pinnate at the base, triangular, with a terminal pinna similar to the terminal pinnules of the pinnae, membranaceous, glabrous. Pinnae: 5 to 7 pair, lanceolate, to 10 cm, anadromous in plan, alternate, lowest pair the longest; pinnules 4-5 pair, to 1 cm, wedge-shaped, alternate, regularly toothed; margins fertile lobed, sterile toothed; veins free, forking. Sori: sporangia, submarginal, indusium: false, inrolled margins, oblong at the ends of segments/pinnules, sporangia: light brown, maturity: late summer. Culture
Habitat: forest floor at 2000-3000 m.
Distribution: Afghanistan, western China, Nepal.
Hardy to -25°C, USDA Zone 5.
|
|
|
Notes
Description The technical characteristics come largely from The Illustrated Fern Flora of the Western Himalaya. The drawing accompanying the entry there is most definitely not Adiantum venustum.
Description The technical characteristics come largely from The Illustrated Fern Flora of the Western Himalaya. The drawing accompanying the entry there is most definitely not Adiantum venustum.
Adiantum venustum. Segments (pinnules) with transparent false indusia and sori near maturity. In my garden fertile fronds are rare and late in the season. Scan: Tom Stuart |
