禾杆旱蕨 he gan han jue

Pellaea straminea Ching, Bull. Fan Mem. Inst. Biol. 2: 203. 1931, not Cheilanthes straminea Brause (1913); Mildella straminea (Ching) C. C. Hall & Lellinger; P. straminea var. tibetica Ching.

Rhizomes erect or ascending, short; scales somewhat bicolorous, with dark brown to black central stripe grading to lighter brown margins, shiny, lanceolate. Fronds clustered, monomorphic. Stipe straw-colored, to 7 cm × ca. 1 mm, grooved adaxially, at least toward tip, brittle, scaly; scales concolorous, brown proximally, grading to light brown below midpoint, also pubescent with sparse to dense, short, mostly bicellular, viscid hairs adaxially. Lamina grayish green when dry, ovate-oblong to ovate-deltoid, (3-)5-8 × 1.5-3 cm, pinnate-pinnatifid, herbaceous to thinly papery, glabrous on both surfaces, apex acute or acuminate; rachis and costae straw-colored, grooved adaxially, with dense, short, viscid hairs adaxially. Pinnae 3-5(-7) pairs, subsessile; basal pair longest, elongate ovate or ovate-deltoid, 1.5-2 × 1-1.4 cm, apex caudate. Segments linear-lanceolate, 6-15 × 1-2 mm, bases adnate to costae, margins entire or somewhat undulate. Sori ± confluent, not interrupted at sinuses or segment tips, occasionally interrupted along lateral margins. False indusia narrow, continuous or occasionally somewhat interrupted, membranous, margins entire.

On rocks; 3000-4500 m. Gansu (Linxia), S Qinghai (Nangqian), Xinjiang, Xizang [Bhutan].

Pellaea straminea var. tibetica was described based on a specimen from Xizang. It was said to differ from var. straminea only in its larger stature (to 22 cm tall) and likely represents plants collected in moister or shadier than usual habitats. The name Cheilanthes tibetica is based on the type of P. straminea and was published without reference to the existence of the heterotypic infrataxon, P. straminea var. tibetica.