Bracken

aquilinum: of an eagle; either because the spreading pinnae resemble the wings of an aegle or a reference to the shape of the vascular bundle in the stipe.
capense: of the Cape

Rhizome widely creeping, subterranean, 5-10 mm in diameter; scales brown, very fine, up to 1 mm long. Fronds widely spaced, stiff, hard, erect, pubescent fronds, 0.5-1.75 m tall, often forming large, dominant colonies in suitable habitats. Stipe up to 0.5 m long, underground portion swollen and covered with fine, brown hairs, above-ground portion pale-green, glabrous. Lamina 3-pinnatifid to 4-pinnate, triangular in outline. Pinnae standing out from the rhachis horizontally at nearly right angles; basal pinnae half as long as the frond; pinnae in the upper half 3-pinnatifid. Pinnules deeply incised, joined to the costules, with apices that are not long and narrow. Sori linear, continuous, situated just inside the inrolled margins; pseudo-indusium continuous.

Locally abundant

This subspecies is widespread in tropical Africa & South Africa, also in Madagascar, Mauritius and Réunion. The species as a whole is one of the most cosmopolitan fern species.