四川方杆蕨 si chuan fang gan jue

Plants to 1.2 m tall. Rhizomes strong, creeping, dark brown, woody, hard. Fronds approximate; stipes ca. 60 cm, dark brown, with brown lanceolate scales, distally stramineous, glabrous; laminae broadly lanceolate, ca. 60 × 30 cm, slightly tapering to bases, pinnate-pinnatifid, pinnatifid-acuminate at apices; lateral free pinnae to 25 pairs, proximal ones subopposite, distal ones alternate, sessile, spreading; middle pinnae oblong-lanceolate, ca. 17 × 1.5 cm, flatly truncate at bases, pinnatifid nearly to costae, pinnatifid-acuminate at apices; segments ca. 40 pairs, lanceolate, ca. 1 × 0.4 cm, entire, separated by small interval, apices slightly bent distally and acute; proximal pair extremely elongated, acroscopic one to 2 cm. Veins evident, raised abaxially, proximal pair of veinlets arising from base of costules, acroscopic veins reaching bottom of sinuses, basiscopic one reaching margin above sinus, 15 or 16 pairs of veinlets per segment. Laminae papery, when dry brownish, with acicular long hairs on intercostal areas abaxially, glabrous on intercostal areas adaxially, setose along margins; rachises with sparse acicular hairs abaxially, costae and veins with dense long acicular hairs, with dense acicular setae along both sides of grooves of rachises and costae, with sparse appressed short setae along both sides of longitudinal grooves adaxially of costae, abaxial sides of veins subglabrous. Sori orbicular, attached at bases of veinlets and close to costules, 8-12 pairs per segment, exindusiate. Sporangia bearing fine acicular hairs.

● Sichuan.