长耳刺蕨 chang er ci jue

Acrostichum appendiculatum Willdenow var. costulatum Hooker; Bolbitis bipinnatifida (J. Smith) K. Iwatsuki (1959), not (Mettenius) Ching (1934); B. sinensis (Baker) K. Iwatsuki var. costulata (Hooker) Tagawa & K. Iwatsuki; Egenolfia bipinnatifida J. Smith.

Rhizome shortly creeping, ca. 1 cm in diam., densely scaly; scales dark brownish, ovate-lanceolate, ca. 3 mm. Fronds close together; sterile fronds bipinnate, 40-70 cm; stipe 11-15 cm, base ca. 3 mm in diam., grooved adaxially, sparsely scaly; lamina dark green when dry, elliptic, 50-60 × 10-35 cm, widest at base, papery, both surfaces glabrous; terminal segment long attenuate to flagelliform; rachis shallowly grooved, glabrous; pinnae ca. 20 pairs, lanceolate, 14-16 × 2.5-3.5 cm, basal pairs subopposite, with short stalk, lowermost 2 pinnae 3-6 mm stalked, apex caudate-acuminate, base asymmetrical with basiscopic 2 or 3 lobes undeveloped, other lobes longer than acroscopic ones; other pairs of pinnae lobed to 1/2 to costa, base truncate and symmetrical; lobes 18-20, elliptic, 1-1.5 × ca. 0.6 cm, margin sparsely rounded dentate, with a spine in each sinus; veinlets 6 or 7 pairs, free, bifurcate or simple. Fertile fronds pinnate: stipe 20-40 cm; lamina lanceolate, 18-20 × 4-5 cm; pinnae 12-14 pairs, elliptic, 2-3 × ca. 0.5 cm, base rounded-truncate, apex obtuse, basal pairs with short stalk. Sporangia inserted throughout abaxial surface.

● On rocks in dense forests; ca. 1200 m. Yunnan.

This species is similar to Bolbitis sinensis but differs in its rachis without wing, base of the lowermost 2 pinnae asymmetrical with basiscopic 2 or 3 lobes undeveloped, and the other lobes longer than the acroscopic ones.