Megalastrum

Description

Megalastrum is a genus of ferns belonging to the family Dryopteridaceae . It contains 78 described species and of these, only 45 accepted. 1 It is found in the neotropics , Africa , Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands . It has terrestrial habits; with scaly petiole, especially towards the base; 2-4-pinnate lamina, catdroma above basal pinnae , laminar tissue without cylindrical glands; basal pinnae elongated basiscopically; rachis , coasts, and scaly abaxially, scaly adaxially but lacking Ctenitis-like trichomes, the coarse, multicellular, whitish, antrorsa strigose trichomes with an acute apex; basal basisonic nodule of the distal pinnules arising from the coast, not the coccyx; ribs ending in a clavate apex behind the margins; indusium absent or (in M. acrosorum ) present; equine spores or with low wings, semi-parallel; has a chromosome number of x = 41.