柳叶耳蕨 liu ye er jue

Aspidium fraxinellum Christ, Bull. Herb. Boissier 7: 15. 1899; Cyrtogonellum fraxinellum (Christ) Ching; C. omeiense Ching ex Y. T. Hsieh; Cyrtomium fraxinellum (Christ) Christ.

Plants evergreen. Rhizome erect or ascending, together with basal stipe densely scaly; scales slightly castaneous, broadly lanceolate, sparsely toothed, acuminate. Fronds up to 60 cm; stipe stramineous, 14-35 cm, 2-2.5 mm in diam. at middle; basal stipe scales dense, castaneous, broadly lanceolate or lanceolate, thickly membranous, sparsely toothed, acuminate; distal stipe scales smaller, brown, lanceolate, membranous, margins ciliate, apices caudate. Lamina imparipinnate, grayish green when dry, adaxially shiny, oblong, 12-27 × 7-12 cm at middle, not contracted toward base, rounded, cuspidate to acute; rachis stramineous, without proliferous bulbils, abaxially sparsely scaly; scales similar to distal stipe scales, brown, lanceolate or subulate, margins ciliate, apices filiform. Apical pinna with same shape as lateral pinnae but smaller; lateral pinnae 3-6 pairs, alternate, approximate, ascendant, shortly stalked, ovate-lanceolate, basal pairs 5-9 × 1.4-2.5 cm, bases nearly symmetrical, acroscopic base hardly auriculate, proximal acroscopic margins of pinnae slightly curved and forming a ± 20° angle to rachis or nearly parallel with rachis, acroscopic margins very slightly recurved, regularly shallowly incised-toothed, basal basiscopic margins cuneate, forming a ± 60° angle with rachis, entire, distal basiscopic margins curved upward, regularly shallowly incised-toothed, apices acuminate; adaxially glabrous, abaxially sparsely scaly; microscales light brown, subulate; frond texture thinly leathery; venation reticulate, distinct on both surfaces, with 1 row of obliquely rectangular areoles on each side of midrib and a sporadic second row of areoles between major areoles, each areole with 1 included veinlet, veinlets outside of areoles free. Sori in 1 row on each side of midrib, terminal on included veinlets, medial, apical portions of lamina and pinnae sometimes sterile; indusia present, brown, membranous, entire, evanescent. 2n = 123.

Crevices of limestone rocks in forests; 500-1800 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan [N Vietnam].