Golden fronds

Sometimes the beauty comes unexpected, as in the waxes on the abaxial (lower) surface of these fern fronds. Not unexpectedly, thought, is that some species of the genus Pityrogramma are cultivated ornamentals, or used for body decorations (the contrast between the dark upper surface of the frond and its gold or silver coloured lower surface is especially striking). One of these cultivated species, P. calomelanos, is now also a pantropical weed, including in oil-palm plantations in tropical west-Africa.

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