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Home Home » TYPES » Ferns » Gleichenia polypodioides
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Gleichenia polypodioides

Gleichenia polypodioides
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  • Cheilanthes hastata
  • Cheilanthes hastata young fronds
  • Cheilanthes hirta
  • Cheilanthes hirta lush in a moist setting
  • Cheilanthes hirta on rocks
  • Elaphoglossum acrostichoides
  • Fern leaf
  • Ferns in habitat
  • Gleichenia polypodioides
  • Polystichum incongruum
  • Pteridium aquilinum
  • Ptisana fraxinea
  • Ptisana fraxinea, a frond
  • Rumohra adiantiformis
  • Rumohra adiantiformis frond details
  • Rumohra adiantiformis in a comfortable spot
  • Schizaea pectinata or cockscomb fern

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Description

Gleichenia polypodioides, the coral fern or in Afrikaans kystervaring (coastal fern), is a much branched creeping fern, a rhizomatous perennial.

The plant may cover patches of land in impenetrable thicket, smothering some competitive vegetation. It is a pioneer plant of disturbed terrain such as plantation land after harvesting.

Commonly associated with coastal land, it does occur along the south and east coasts of South Africa from the Western Cape and Eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal. It also occurs inland, however, in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, as well as in East Africa and Madagascar.

The habitat of the coral fern is rocky land with high rainfall at low altitude, prone to fog. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

This indigenous fern is less known in South Africa than it deserves, sometimes thought to be an exotic invader. There are ten species of Gleichenia, but this is the only member of the genus found in South Africa (Bean and Johns, 2005; Wikipedia; http://redlist.sanbi.org).

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Photographer
Thabo Maphisa
Author
Ivan Latti
 
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