三轴凤尾蕨 san zhou feng wei jue

Hypolepis pteridioides Hooker; Pteris brevisora Baker; P. pellucens J. Agardh; P. zollingeri Mettenius ex Miquel.

Plants 1.2-1.5 m tall. Rhizome erect, short, 1.5-2 cm in diam., woody, apex with dark brown scales. Fronds clustered; stipe dark straw-colored to light brown, slightly lustrous, 70-80 cm, 6-8 mm in diam., firm, glabrous; lamina 3-pinnatipartite, triangular-ovate in outline, 60-70 × 35-45 cm; lateral pinnae 12-20 pairs, subopposite or alternate, oblique, sessile, lanceolate, 10-12 × 1.5-2 cm, base truncate, pectinately divided nearly to costae, apex caudate (2-3 cm), with linear lobes; segments 25-28 pairs, alternate, interlinked and slightly decumbent, oblong, ca. 10 × 3-4 mm, base slightly enlarged, apex obtuse and crenate; apical pinnule same as middle lateral ones, stalked (ca. 1 cm); costae prominent abaxially, straw-colored, glabrous, slightly grooved adaxially, with needlelike spines on both sides; veins conspicuous on both surfaces, oblique, 2-forked at base, and opposite two veins oblique up to margin of incision; lamina pale green to green-brown, herbaceous when dried, glabrous.

Forests; 600-2400 m. W Guangxi (Tianlin), Hunan (Tongdao), C and SW Taiwan, Yunnan (Jingdong, Malipo, Simao) [widely distributed in Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam].