70b. Asplenium tenuicaule var. subvarians (Ching) Viane, Pterid. New Millennium. 100. 2003.
钝齿铁角蕨 dun chi tie jiao jue
Asplenium subvarians Ching in C. Christensen, Index Filic., Suppl. 3: 38. 1934, based on Gymnogramma fauriei Christ, Bull. Herb. Boissier, sér. 2, 2: 561. 1902, not A. fauriei Christ (1899); Anogramma fauriei Christ; Asplenium chengkouense Ching ex H. S. Kung; A. conmixtum Ching ["conmixum"]; A. siobarense Koidzumi, nom. illeg. superfl.; A. tianmushanense Ching.
Marginal teeth of pinnae mucronate to acute. Spores with lophate (cristate) perispore, middle perispore lacking in areoles between outer perispore folds, with few narrow (less than 1 µm) pori (see illustration of pattern in, e.g., Y. L. Zhang et al., Sporae Pterid. Sin. (1976) or Spore Morphol. Chin. Pteridophytes (1990): Pl. 51: 22-23; t. 77 j-l).
On rocks in forests; 600-3100 m. Chongqing, Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, India, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia (S Siberia)].
Asplenium tenuicaule var. subvarians was often mentioned under A. anogrammoides auct. non Christ (e.g., in Komarov, Izv. Imp. S.-Peterburgsk. Bot. Sada 16: 145-151. 1916; Komarov & Klobukova-Alisova, Opred. Rast. Dalnevost. Kraia 1: 82. 1931; Fomin, Fl. Sibir. Orient. Extremi 5: 152-154. 1930; in Komarov & Iljin, Fl. URSS 1: 66. 1934; Ching, Fl. Pl. Herb. Chin. Bor.-Or. 1: 37. 1958), a mistake caused by Christensens interpretation of A. anogrammoides based on wrong type material (BM!). Small specimens of this taxon can be similar to A. capillipes, but that species usually has a small bud on the stalk of one of its basal pinnae and also has larger spores with an alate perispore. A narrow form of A. tenuicaule var. subvarians grows in the Altai mountains and is often misidentified either as A. anogrammoides auct. non Christ, or as A. altajense auct. non Grubov. A luxurious form was described as A. chengkouense. In the W Himalaya, plants tend to have less mucronate, but more slender and sharper teeth. Due to confusion with similar taxa, the distribution of this taxon is not well known.
