阔盖粉背蕨 kuo gai fen bei jue

Cheilanthes grisea Blanford, J. Simla Naturalists’ Soc. 1(2): 21. 1886; Aleuritopteris farinosa (Forsskål) Fée var. grisea (Blanford) Ching; A. grisea var. alpina (Ching) S. K. Wu; A. platychlamys Ching; A. platychlamys var. alpina Ching; A. stenochlamys Ching; C. farinosa (Forsskål) Kaulfuss var. grisea (Blanford) Blanford; C. farinosa f. minor C. B. Clarke & Baker; C. farinosa var. tenera C. B. Clarke & Baker; C. platychlamys (Ching) Fraser-Jenkins.

Rhizomes erect, short; scales slightly bicolorous, black with brown margins, narrowly lanceolate. Fronds clustered. Stipe dark brown, lustrous, 5-30 cm × 0.8-2 mm, scaly at base or nearly to midpoint; scales concolorous, reddish brown, broadly lanceolate. Lamina oblong-lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, (3-)10-20 × 2-14 cm, tripinnatifid, papery or thinly leathery when dry, abaxially with white farina, adaxially glabrous, apex acuminate; rachis and costae same color as stipe; pinnae 6-12 pairs, distinct along rachis, basal pair of pinnae subtriangular, (1-)2-7 × (0.8-)2-3 cm, pinnate-pinnatifid, inequilateral; basal basiscopic pinnules larger than adjacent acroscopic ones, pinnatifid; second and third pairs of pinnae with same shape as pinnae, but slightly shorter and narrower; distal pairs lanceolate, equilateral. Veins obscure. Sori consisting of several sporangia, confluent at maturity. False indusia broad, sometimes nearly to midvein, continuous or somewhat interrupted, margins entire or undulate. 2n = 60.

Rock crevices on slopes; 1000-4600 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Kashmir, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand].

The name Aleuritopteris stenochlamys refers to populations occurring from N India and C Nepal to SW China (Sichuan, Yunnan, Xizang) at elevations below ca. 3000 m. These plants have relatively large fronds and seem to differ from typical A. grisea in their spores (cristate-reticulate vs. echinate-rugulate). Aleuritopteris grisea s.l. likely represents a species complex that requires more detailed study to tease apart its cryptic component taxa.