美丽凤尾蕨 mei li feng wei jue

Pteris decurrentipinnulata Bonaparte; P. takeoi Hayata.

Plants 70-100 cm tall. Rhizome prostrate, ca. 1 cm in diam.; scales yellowish brown to pale brown, linear to lanceolate, to 1.5 cm, entire. Fronds clustered; stipe reddish brown, shiny, 30-70 cm × 3-4 mm, glabrous; rachis castaneous, shiny, grooved adaxially; lamina 2-pinnatipartite, ovate-triangular in outline, 45-60(-100) × ca. 30 cm; lower lateral pinnae 5 or 6 pairs, opposite, 5-7 cm apart, pinnae 1(or 2)-pinnatisect, decumbent, oblong-lanceolate in outline, 12-18 × 5-7 cm, shortly stalked, base decrescent, apex narrowly lanceolate-caudate; pinnae anisomerous: basiscopic side with 0-3 segments toward its apex, acroscopic side with 3-6 pectinately arranged segments; segments lanceolate, somewhat falcate, 35-60 × ca. 6 mm, ca. 4 mm apart, decumbent, base slightly narrowed, basiscopically decurrent, margins entire, apex long acute to acuminate; costae grooved adaxially, grooves with pallid thin raised edges; veins oblique, forked; distal lateral pinnae alternate, 3-5 each side, decumbent, lanceolate, 8-10 × 0.8-1 cm, sessile; terminal pinna pinnatifid, ca. 16 × 6 cm; lamina pale green, firmly herbaceous when dried, glabrous. 2n = 58.

Wet shaded cliffs, often along streams or waterfalls; 600-2500 m. Taiwan [Japan (Ryukyu Islands)].