52. Pteris splendida Ching, Acta Bot. Austro Sin. 1: 9. 1983.
隆林凤尾蕨 long lin feng wei jue
Plants up to 1 m tall. Rhizome not seen. Stipe brown at base, dark, ca. 80 cm × 5 mm, upper part straw-colored, adaxially with 2 angular grooves; rachis straw-colored, glabrous; lamina 2- or 3-pinnatipartite, narrowly ovate in outline, ca. 55 × 25 cm; lateral pinnae ca. 7 pairs, opposite, decumbent, approximate, basal pair of pinnae with stalks ca. 2 cm, upper pairs shortly stalked to gradually sessile; basiscopic pinnae broadly lanceolate, 25-30 × 4-8 cm, basally narrower, subtruncate, symmetrical, pectinately divided nearly to costae, apex linear-caudate (ca. 5 cm); basal pair 2-forked at base, with a deeply pectinately pinnatifid pinnule at base; terminal pinna similar to lateral pinnae, but with longer stalk; segments ca. 30 pairs, alternate, contiguous, decumbent, linear-lanceolate, somewhat falcate, median ones 30-50 × 5-8 mm, upper ones gradually reduced, apex acute or obtuse, with a sharp point, entire; costae glabrous, adaxially grooved, with flat needlelike spines at both narrow sides of costa, and short spines on midvein; veins conspicuous, prominent abaxially, 2-forked at base, oblique; lamina papery when dried, abaxially gray-green, adaxially pale green or brown-green when dried, glabrous.
● Densely shaded or open forests; 700-1000 m. NW Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan.
