狭翅巢蕨 xia chi chao jue

Asplenium antrophyoides var. grossidentatum Bonaparte ex Tardieu; A. latipes (Ching ex S. H. Wu) Viane; A. subspathulatum Rosenstock; Neottopteris antrophyoides (Christ) Ching; N. antrophyoides var. cristata Ching & S. H. Wu; N. latipes Ching ex S. H. Wu.

Plants 30-60 cm tall. Rhizome erect and short, apex scaly; scales dark brown, narrowly triangular, entire. Fronds caespitose, subsessile or with extremely short stipe; stipe stramineous, soft; lamina spatulate to very narrowly obovate, 25-60 × 4.5-6.5(-8) cm, gradually reduced into a 1-2 cm wide lateral wing; margin entire, often cartilaginous, apex cuspidate to caudate. Midrib flat to carinate at base abaxially, stramineous, subglabrous but with dark brown lanceolate scales at its base; veins visible on both sides, simple or forked, parallel. Fronds subleathery, brownish green to dark green after drying, subglabrous. Sori restricted to upper part of lamina, linear, 1.5-2.5 cm, borne on acroscopic veinlets and occupying 2/3-3/4 of their length; indusia brownish, linear, membranous, entire, persistent. Spores with lophate (cristate) perispore. Plants sexual tetraploid: 2n = 144.

On limestone rocks or on tree trunks in dense forests; 300-1300 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan [Laos, Thailand, Vietnam].

Asplenium antrophyoides var. grossidentatum Bonaparte ex Tardieu (Asplén. Tonkin, 25. 1932; Neottopteris antrophyoides var. cristata Ching & S. H. Wu) is an aberrant monstrosity with a lacerate frond, known from Vietnam and SE Yunnan. Another form with a very wide frond base and described as Neottopteris latipes by Ching is also treated as a synonym; the perispores are similar (Wei & Dong, Nordic J. Bot. 30: 90-103. 2012).