琉球凤尾蕨 liu qiu feng wei jue

Plants small to medium-sized, evergreen. Rhizome ascending, short; scales small, narrow, blackish brown. Fronds dimorphic. Sterile fronds: stipes straw-colored to tinted brown, lower portion ± polished brown, dark at base, scaly; lateral pinnae commonly one pair, sometimes forked, 1-1.5 cm wide; apical pinnae twice as long as lateral ones, margin irregularly dentate, apex moderately acute. Fertile fronds twice as tall as sterile ones, ca. 30 cm tall; stipes much longer than laminae; lateral pinnae 1 or 2 pairs, lowest one sometimes forked, 3-5 mm wide. n = 58.

Along trails or on walls in village areas or on forest floor in lowlands; near sea level to 600 m. Taiwan [Japan, Philippines].