Myriopteris rawsonii

The fronds arise from a creeping rhizome about 2.5 millimetres (0.098 in) in diameter. The rhizome bears linear scales up to 2 millimetres (0.08 in) long, which are blackish-brown in color, growing pale brown at the margins. The scales are jagged at the edges, or ciliate (bearing hair-like projections). The fronds are closely spaced along the rhizome, standing erect or arching somewhat. They emerge as fiddleheads (circinate vernation). The stipe (the stalk of the leaf, below the blade) is about 50 millimetres (2 in) long. It is brown and covered with a mat of pale hairs in freshly-grown leaves; the hairs are shed as the leaf ages. The leaf blade is linear-elliptic in shape and pinnate-pinnatifid (cut into deeply lobed pinnae), sometimes almost bipinnate. The blades range from 80 to 250 millimeters (3.1 to 9.8 in) long and from 15 to 22 millimetres (0.59 to 0.87 in) wide. The rachis (leaf axis) is similar in appearance to the stipe, but largely retains its hairs even in older fronds. The pinnae (leaflets) are oblong-ovate in shape and relatively widely spaced from each other, with entire (untoothed) margins. Those closer to the base of the leaf are more deeply lobed than those above. The veins are not netted and do not stand out strongly from the rest of the leaf tissue. …

Myriopteris rawsonii occurs only in Namaqualand, ranging from southern Namibia into the northern part of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is found on hot, rocky hillsides, often on south- or east- facing slopes where crevices or boulders offer some shade and help preserve moisture for the plant. It occurs at elevations of 400 to 1,660 metres (1,310 to 5,450 ft).

The fronds typically remain dormant most of the year, shriveled and curled around their central axis. They rehydrate, unfurl, and new growth appears when refreshed by winter rains.