西南旱蕨 xi nan han jue

Pellaea smithii C. Christensen, Acta Horti Gothob. 1: 84. 1924; Mildella smithii (C. Christensen) C. C. Hall & Lellinger.

Rhizomes erect or ascending, short; scales bicolorous, dark brown to black with light brown margins, lanceolate. Fronds clustered, monomorphic or nearly so. Stipe straw-colored, sometimes tan proximally, 6-20 cm × ca. 1 mm, terete or flattened to slightly grooved adaxially, with concolorous, reddish brown, soft, narrowly lanceolate scales mostly at base, also pubescent adaxially with shorter and longer, lax, unicellular and multicellular, viscid hairs, short hairs mostly glandular distally. Lamina pale brownish green when dry, oblong, much shorter than stipe, 4-10 × 2-3 cm, 2-pinnate, leathery, glabrous on both surfaces; rachis straw-colored, sometimes light brownish tinged, grooved, with sparse viscid hairs adaxially. Pinnae 2-7 pairs, ovate-deltoid, 1-2.3 × 1-2 cm, sessile. Pinnules or segments 3-5 pairs, linear, 0.5-1.5 cm × 1.2-1.6 mm, base decurrent on costa, margins entire or obscurely crenulate, sometimes with 1-3 small lobes, apex obtuse or mucronate. Sori confluent, not interrupted at sinuses or segment tips. False indusia continuous, broad, nearly to midvein, margins fimbriate.

● Rock crevices under shrubs in dry valleys; 1300-2600 m. W Sichuan, NW Yunnan.