黑柄粉背蕨 hei bing fen bei jue

Rhizomes ascending, short; scales inconspicuously bicolorous, black with very narrow brown margins, lanceolate. Fronds clustered. Stipe black, lustrous, 5-12 cm, scaly at base; basalmost scales black, with narrow brown margins, grading to concolorous, lanceolate. Lamina deltoid, 5-10 × 4-8 cm, pinnate-bipinnatifid, papery, abaxially with milky yellow farina, adaxially glabrous; rachis similar to stipe; pinnae 5 or 6 pairs, sessile, basal pair largest, deltoid, strongly inequilateral, 2-4 × 1.5-3 cm, bipinnatifid; pinnules 6 or 7 pairs, proximal basiscopic pinnules largest, oblong, up to 3 cm, pinnatifid; other pairs gradually shortened distally, lanceolate, 1-pinnatifid or simple; ultimate segments deltoid to narrowly oblong or lanceolate. Veins pinnate, obscure. Sori consisting of several sporangia, confluent at maturity. False indusia continuous, narrow, membranous, with subentire margins.

● Rock crevices; 500-1300 m. Guizhou (Danzhai, Guiding, Pingfa).

Aleuritopteris ebenipes is similar to A. veitchii in its lamina being covered with milky yellow farina abaxially but differs in its bicolorous scales with brown, narrow margins, which in some specimens can be difficult to detect. The difference noted in couplet 3 of the key of the triangular-ovate lamina in A. ebenipes (vs. pentagonal in A. veitchii) also may provide a clue for distinguishing these two species. However, some specimens can be difficult to assign to one or the other of these taxa. Further research is needed on separation of A. ebenipes from A. veitchii.