燕尾叉蕨 yan wei cha jue

Nephrodium simonsii Baker in Hooker & Baker, Syn. Fil., ed. 2, 504. 1874; Aspidium kwarenkoense Hayata; A. longicrure (Christ) Christ; A. simonsii (Baker) Beddome; A. subtriphyllum (Hooker & Arnott) Hooker var. ebenosum Nakai; Dryomenis kwarenkoensis (Hayata) Nakai; Sagenia longicruris Christ; Tectaria kwarenkoensis (Hayata) C. Christensen; T. longicruris (Christ) C. Christensen; T. subtriphylla (Hooker & Arnott) Copeland var. ebenosa (Nakai) Nemoto.

Plants terrestrial, 60-150 cm tall or more. Rhizome creeping, ascending, or erect, short, thick, densely scaly at apex and stipe bases; scales stiff, dark brown to nearly purple, 8-10 mm, linear-lanceolate, entire, apices long acuminate. Fronds clustered; stipe dark brown or castaneous to black, glossy, 40-60 cm, 4-5 mm in diam. at base, minutely brown pubescent throughout. Lamina bipinnate to tripinnatifid, deep green when dried, subpentagonal or triangular-ovate, 30-60 × 25-40 cm, papery, both surfaces glabrous; rachises castaneous to black, pubescent, costa and costules raised abaxially, castaneous, glabrescent; terminal pinna 3-lobed or simple; terminal lobe ovate-lanceolate, entire or undulate to pinnatifid, base cordate to cuneate, lateral lobes like terminal lobe, opposite, rather small; lateral pinnules 2 or 3 pairs, opposite, interval 4-6(-10) cm, oblique; basal pinnules pinnate or bipinnatifid, 10-15 cm, rather large, stalks long; middle pinnules 3-lobed to simple, becoming sessile toward apices, entire or undulate, broadly lanceolate, 8-10 cm, bases cordate, apices caudate. Veinlets forming subhexagonal areoles with cross veins, included veinlets simple or forked. Sori small, orbicular, located at coupling veinlets, in irregular rows between adjacent main veins, exindusiate.

Dense forests; 100-1300 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan [India, Japan (Ryukyu Islands), Thailand, Vietnam].

Tectaria simonsii is characterized by its castaneous to black stipe and ternate terminal pinna. We do not follow the treatment in FRPS (6(1): 89. 1999) in accepting T. linloensis (see T. rockii, p. 742) and T. subtriphylla var. ebenosa. The only differences lie in minor characters of the terminal pinna, which are variable even within the same plant.