假斜方复叶耳蕨 jia xie fang fu ye er jue

Arachniodes caudifolia Ching & Y. T. Hsieh; A. rhomboidea (Schott) Ching var. sinica Ching; A. tiendongensis Ching & C. F. Zhang.

Rhizome creeping, succulent at growing apex, 0.8-1.3 cm in diam., moderately scaly; scales pale brown, ovate-lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 3-6(-8) × 0.5-2 mm, thin and soft. Fronds remote, 0.8-1.1 m; stipe ochraceous or amber, 35-50 cm, 3-5 mm in diam., base scaly as rhizome, upward scales spreading, gradually diminishing, scales on distal portion becoming subulate with curved apex; lamina 2(or 3)-pinnate-pinnatifid, yellowish brown when dried, ovate-oblong, 45-55 × 30-40 cm, papery, base cuneate, apex abruptly narrowed and caudate, with a conform terminal pinna, rachis scaly as distal portion of stipe or glabrescent; lateral pinnae (3-)5-8 pairs, alternate, with to 2 cm stalk, obliquely spreading; lowest pinnae linear-lanceolate (or hastate), to 25 × 7 cm, base broadly cuneate, apex acuminate with a caudate tip; (primary) pinnules to 25 pairs, spreading, shortly stalked, rhombic-oblong, to 4 × 1.2 cm, base acroscopically truncate and auriculate, basiscopically cuneate, apex acute or obtuse, aristate, margin pinnatifid and often with basal acroscopic lobe free, lobe apex and its 1-3 marginal teeth aristate, basal basiscopic (primary) pinnule occasionally elongated and pinnate; upper pinnae gradually reduced; terminal pinnae to 20 × 4 cm; axes and veins with sparse minute brown threadlike scales abaxially. Sori terminal on veinlets, 1-7 pairs per ultimate segment, medial between midvein and margin; indusia dark brown, firmly membranous, and entire. 2n = 82.

Slopes by streamlets, in forests or bamboos, also in thickets along open places, sometimes on shaded wet rocks or in ravines; below 100-1800 m. Anhui, Chongqing, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan].