流苏苞蕗蕨 liu su bao lu jue

Mecodium fimbriatum (J. Smith) Copeland.

Rhizome long creeping, wiry, irregularly branching, ca. 0.5 mm in diam. or thicker, with dark brownish hairs when young, glabrescent; roots irregularly arising from rhizome, with dense long dark brownish root hairs. Stipe 2-7 cm, winged nearly throughout, with wings up to 1 mm wide on each side, entire but decidedly crisped. Rachis substraight or slightly zigzag in upper part, winged throughout, wings similar to those on stipes or less crisped. Lamina tripinnate-quadripinnatifid, oblong to oblong-ovate, 5-10 cm, 2.5-5 cm wide at widest middle portion, base broadly cuneate to subtruncate, apex acute or moderately so; lateral pinnae ascending, shortly stalked in larger ones, oblong-subdeltoid to oblong, 2-4.5 cm in larger ones, up to 1.8 cm wide, base broadly cuneate, apex moderately acute to rounded; pinna rachis winged and appearing like ultimate segments; larger pinnules pinnate to bipinnatifid, or secondary pinnules 1- or 3-forked; ultimate segments up to 1 mm wide, margin entire, moderately undulate to ± crisped, apex rounded to obtuse. Sori at apices of nearly all ultimate segments of apical portion of frond, ± constricted at base; involucres deeply cleft nearly to base, oblong, 1.2-1.6 × 0.8-1.3 mm; lips fimbriate-toothed at apex but teeth somewhat deciduous; receptacles included within valves, cylindric.

Epiphytic on tree trunks in primary forests; 800-1400 m. E Taiwan [Indonesia (Borneo, Seram), New Guinea, Philippines, Vietnam].