节毛耳蕨 jie mao er jue

Plants evergreen. Rhizome short, ascending, 3-6 mm in diam., densely scaly; scales brown, narrowly lanceolate, subentire. Fronds 6-12 cm; stipe amber or light brown, 2-6 cm, 0.5-1 mm in diam.; basal stipe scales lanceolate, texture thick, entire or sparsely toothed, upward densely covered with slender brown articulate hairs from base to rachis, distal stipe scales sparse, brown, narrowly lanceolate. Lamina 1-pinnate, light green when dry, adaxially slightly darker, oblong-lanceolate, 2.5-8.5 × 1.5-2.2 cm, base slightly or not contracted, apex obtuse and pinnatilobate; rachis amber or light brown, without proliferous bulbils. Pinnae 4-11 pairs, alternate, approximate or remote, attached at right angles to rachis or slightly ascendant, shortly stalked, oblong or obliquely ovate-oblong, 5-11 × 3-7 mm, bases asymmetrical, acroscopic base obviously auriculate, auricles deltoid, apex of auricle acute or obtuse, proximal margins of auricle parallel to rachis or slightly overlapping rachis, basiscopic margins of pinnae rounded-cuneate, distal part of pinnae nearly equal in width to base, margins repand; both surfaces densely covered with long brown articulate hairs; frond texture papery; venation slightly distinct abaxially, indistinct adaxially, pinnate; lateral veins simple or dichotomous, not reaching pinna margin. Sori small, terminal on veinlets, close to pinna margin, exindusiate.

● Limestone walls in karst caves; 500-600 m. W Guangxi (Fengshan); Vietnam.

Polystichum articulatipilosum is the only species in the genus with articulate hairs on its stipe, rachis, and pinnae.