拟角状耳蕨 ni jiao zhuang er jue

Plants evergreen. Rhizome ascending, short, rhizome apex and stipe densely scaly; scales light brown on margin, castaneous at middle, ovate, thickened at middle, membranous, entire, acuminate. Fronds 30-45 cm; stipe stramineous or light brownish stramineous, 6-16 cm, ca. 1 mm in diam. at base. Lamina tripinnatipartite to tripinnate, green or light green when dry, concolorous on both surfaces, elliptic-lanceolate, 18-32 × 5-6 cm, gradually and slightly contracted below middle, acuminate; rachis stramineous, without proliferous bulbils, adaxially glabrous, abaxially sparsely scaly; scales appressed, brown, ovate, membranous, long acuminate. Pinnae ca. 30 pairs, approximate, attached at right angles to rachis or slightly ascendant, opposite or alternate, sessile, falcate-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, bases asymmetrical, apices acute or shortly acuminate; basal acroscopic pinnules largest and parallel to rachis, basiscopic margins of pinnae oblique, middle pinnae 2.5-4 × 1-1.5 cm, basalmost pinnae 1-2.5 cm; costa green, abaxially sparsely scaly; scales similar to rachis scales, brown, membranous, long acuminate. Pinnules 7-10 pairs, slender, elliptic or oblong-ovate, 4-8 × 1-3 mm, bases narrowly cuneate, pinnatipartite and forming acute laciniate lobes, apices acute; basal acroscopic pinnules largest and slightly auriculate, proximal margins of basal acroscopic pinnules close to rachis. Lobes elliptic-clavate or spatulate, apices acute and shortly spinulose, sometimes shallowly bilobed, each lobule also shortly spinulose at apex; adaxially glabrous, abaxially sparsely scaly; microscales evanescent, short and slender; frond texture thinly papery; venation indistinct adaxially, slightly visible abaxially, slender, 1 veinlet per lobe, reaching base of spinule. Sori small, located on upper part of veinlets, close to lobe apex, 1 per lobe; indusia present, light brown, entire, nearly as wide as lobes, evanescent.

Wet limestone crevices in montane broad-leaved evergreen forests, karst caves; 800-1900 m. Guizhou, SE Yunnan [N Vietnam].