线叶瓦韦 xian ye wa wei

Lepisorus nyalamensis Ching & S. K. Wu.

Plants 10-20 cm tall. Rhizomes long and creeping, 1.5-2 mm in diam., densely scaly; scales dark brown with pale margins, iridescent, lanceolate, 2-3 × 0.5-1 mm, very thin, margin denticulate, scales with narrow opaque black belt in center, sometimes completely transparent, marginal 2 or 3 rows of cells subrectangular, transparent. Fronds 0.5-1 cm apart; stipe straw-colored, 0.5-3 cm, 0.5-1 mm in diam.; lamina greenish when dried, linear or linear-lanceolate, 10-25 × 0.3-0.5(-4) cm, widest at middle, thinly leathery, sparsely scattered with small scales, leaf scales with distinct and large lumina, base attenuate, decurrent, margin flat or only slightly revolute, apex acuminate; costa raised on both sides, veinlets obscure. Sori on distal 1/3-1/2 of lamina, midway between costa and margins, orbicular, 2-3.5 mm in diam.; paraphyses brown, orbicular; lumina transparent, almost square.

On tree trunks or rocks in evergreen broad-leaved forests; (200-) 800-2700(-3200) m. Xizang (Mêdog), Yunnan [India, Nepal].

A distinct species with iridescent scales and paraphyses with transparent square lumina.

Lepisorus lineariformis and L. nyalamensis differed only in lamina form, linear for the former and lanceolate for the latter. We checked more specimens and found that leaf shape is not a stable character, even within a population.