Braamfontein Spruit Ecological Corridor

Florence D. Hancock and Annabelle Lucas
More information

Species source document

Ferns of the Witwatersrand

Ferns of the Witwatersrand is a beautifully illustrated guide to identifying and appreciating the 32 species of ferns found in the area. Ferns are not commonly associated with the grasslands or savanna of the interior, but find moist and shaded conditions in kloofs, along rivers and wetland areas. This book successfully argues for the place of ferns in our imagination of our environment here, and for their appreciation regenerating our environment inside the urban landscape.

The area it covers is Nigel in the east, Randfontein in the west, Halfway House and Krugersdorp dolomites in the north, and Klip River and Klipspruit as far as Olifantsvlei and Van Wyk's Rust in the south.

Note: Isoëtes giessii was also listed in this book but not imported, as we could not find enough information on it that indicates it occurs in Gauteng.

Illustrated by Barbara Pike and Patsy-Lynne Edkins
Witwatersrand University Press, Johannesburg, 1973

Linked species

The following 33 species were imported from this document.
Name Vegetation type(s) Features Flowers & type
Black Maidenhair Fern
Adiantum capillus-veneris
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Medicinal
Near water
Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Mexican Maidenhair Fern
Adiantum poiretii poiretii
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Attractive
Near water
Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Grassveld Tree Fern
Alsophila dregei
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Good potplant
Easy to grow
Attractive
Near water
Semi-shade Shade Sun
Soil: loam Soil: sandy
Gauteng
Fern Tree
Scented Fern
Anemia caffrorum
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Drought-resistant
Attractive Medicinal
Rocky habitat
Semi-shade Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Asplenium adiantum-nigrum
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Attractive Medicinal
Near water Rocky habitat
Shade
Gauteng
Fern
African Spleenwort
Asplenium aethiopicum
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Medicinal
Near water Rocky habitat
Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Scaly Fern
Asplenium cordatum
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Drought-resistant
Medicinal
Rocky habitat
Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Pointed Hard Fern
Blechnum attenuatum giganteum
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Near water Rocky habitat
Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Southern Hard Fern
Blechnum australe
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Attractive
Near water
Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Silver Fern
Cerosora argentea
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Near water Rocky habitat
Semi-shade Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Dolomite Lipfern
Cheilanthes dolomiticola
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Attractive
Rocky habitat
Semi-shade Sun
Gauteng
Fern
Resurrection Fern
Cheilanthes eckloniana
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Drought-resistant
Attractive Medicinal
Rocky habitat
Semi-shade Sun
Gauteng
Fern
Cheilanthes involuta involuta
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Near water Rocky habitat
Semi-shade Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Hard Lip Fern
Cheilanthes viridis glauca
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Rocky habitat
Semi-shade Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Grassland Fern
Dryopteris athamantica
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Medicinal
Rocky habitat
Semi-shade Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Thin-stemmed Forest Fern
Dryopteris inaequalis inaequalis
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Medicinal
Near water Rocky habitat
Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Branched Horsetail
Equisetum ramosissimum
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Medicinal
Near water
Semi-shade Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Woolly Lipfern
Hemionitis hirta
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Drought-resistant
Medicinal
Rocky habitat
Semi-shade Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Cluster Fern
Hemionitis multifida
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Near water Rocky habitat
Semi-shade Sun
Gauteng
Fern
Four-pinnate Lip Fern
Hemionitis quadripinnata
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Medicinal
Rocky habitat
Semi-shade Sun
Gauteng
Fern
Green Cliff Brake
Hemionitis viridis viridis
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Drought-resistant
Near water Rocky habitat
Semi-shade Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Staghorn Clubmoss
Lycopodiella cernua
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Attractive Medicinal
Near water
Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Marsilea macrocarpa
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Grazers/browsers
Edible
In water
Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Common Adders-tongue
Ophioglossum polyphyllum
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Medicinal
Near water
Semi-shade Sun
Gauteng
Fern
Southern Adder's-tongue
Ophioglossum vulgatum
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Near water
Semi-shade Sun
Gauteng
Fern
American Royal Fern
Osmunda regalis
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Attractive Medicinal Useful
In water Near water Rocky habitat
Semi-shade Shade Sun
Soil: clay Soil: loam
Gauteng
Fern Perennial
Hard Fern
Pellaea calomelanos calomelanos
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Attractive Edible Medicinal
Rocky habitat
Semi-shade Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Common Bracken
Pteridium aquilinum aquilinum
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Edible
Semi-shade Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Cretan Brake
Pteris cretica
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Attractive
Near water Rocky habitat
Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Ladder Brake
Pteris vittata
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Near water
Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Drege's Spikemoss
Selaginella dregei
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Rocky habitat
Sun
Gauteng
Fern
Mitten's Spikemoss
Selaginella mittenii
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Near water Rocky habitat
Shade
Gauteng
Fern
Swamp Fern
Thelypteris confluens
  • Egoli Granite Grassland
  • Witwatersrand
Attractive
Near water
Shade
Gauteng
Fern

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