西藏莲座蕨 xi zang lian zuo jue

Type: Nepal. 1821, Wallich 187/4 (lectotype, designated here, K! [barcode 000784939]).

Angiopteris fibrillosa Ching & Y. X. Lin; A. henryi Hieronymus; A. lobulata Ching; A. medogensis Ching & Y. X. Lin.

Fronds 1-3 m; stipes smooth, streaked. Laminae bipinnate; pinnae 35-70 × 15-30 cm, with 15-18 pairs of pinnules; pinnules lanceolate, 8-15 × 1-2 cm, bases rounded to cuneate, margins crenulate-entire to serrate, apices acuminate. Veins obvious, sparse, ca. 10 lateral veins per cm; false veins present, usually longer than sori, extending halfway from margin to costule. Sori 0.3-0.5 mm from margin, 1-1.4 mm, with 12-14 sporangia.

Forests along streams; 300-1500 m. SE Xizang (Mêdog), Yunnan (Yingjiang) [N India, Nepal].

This and the next two species (Angiopteris lygodiifolia and A. hainanensis) share numerous characters and are often difficult to tell apart. It appears that they form a grade from larger plants (up to 3 m) with submarginal sori in the Himalaya (A. wallichiana) to smaller plants with near-medial sori in Taiwan and Japan (A. lygodiifolia). There are intermediate specimens known from Hainan, and, therefore, it may be difficult to maintain these taxa as distinct. They were maintained here because A. lygodiifolia is in common use and would be diverted into synonymy if these species were merged, and they may be separated on the basis of geography. Further studies at the population level are needed to resolve this species complex.

Angiopteris fauriei Hieronymus var. formosana Hieronymus (Hedwigia 61(3): 274. 1919) was included as a synonym of A. henryi in FRPS (2: 36. 1959). If correct, this would add Taiwan to the distribution of A. wallichiana.