华南铁角蕨 hua nan tie jiao jue

Asplenium consimile Ching ex S. H. Wu (1989), not Rémy (1854); A. jiulungense Ching; A. nanchuanense Ching & Z. Y. Liu; A. pseudowilfordii Tagawa; A. wilfordii Mettenius ex Kuhn var. austrochinense (Ching) Tagawa; Tarachia austrochinensis (Ching) H. Itô.

Plants 30-40 cm tall. Rhizome erect, short, apex scaly; scales dark to medium brown, narrowly triangular, fimbriate in basal part to subentire near apex. Fronds caespitose; stipe up to 20 cm, semiterete, base abaxially dull, dark purplish to gray-yellow when dry, adaxially green and sulcate, base with scales similar to those on rhizome, toward rachis with gradually smaller and more hastate-stellate scales with fimbriae; lamina triangular-ovate to narrowly triangular, 18-26 × 6-10 cm, base cuneate to truncate, apex acute-acuminate, 2-pinnatifid to 3-pinnatifid; pinnae 10-15 pairs, subopposite to alternate, stalk 3-4 mm, basal pinnae not reduced, narrowly triangular-ovate, 4.5-8 × 1.7-3 cm, apex acute to caudate, pinnate to 2-pinnatifid; pinnules 3-5 pairs, anadromous, basal acroscopic pinnule largest, free or adnate to costa, rhombic, 1-2 × 0.6-1.2 cm, apex obtuse-truncate to subacute, basal pinnule simple to pinnatifid and with 2 or 3 segments, base cuneate or decurrent on costa in upper pinnae, margin serrate-crenate to sinuate, teeth usually obtuse, costa sulcate adaxially, narrowly winged. Veins obvious abaxially, obscure but occasionally raised adaxially, venation anadromous, veins subflabellate, not reaching margin. Fronds herbaceous to leathery, green, or yellowish brown when dry, lamina with reduced, hastate-stellate, and fimbriate scales or subglabrous; rachis semiterete, green, or more rarely purplish brown or gray, sulcate and green adaxially. Sori 2-6(-9) per pinnule, short, linear, 3-5 mm; indusia pale brown, linear, firm, membranous, entire, opening toward costule or costa, persistent. Plants octoploid: 2n = 288.

On wet rocks or moss cushions on trees in dense forests; 400-1100 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, SE Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Vietnam].

Plants of Asplenium austrochinense from Guangdong are octoploid like the Japanese (Shimura & Takiguchi, J. Jap. Bot. 54: 311-318. 1979), and scales are similar in Chinese and Japanese specimens. Upon drought stress, the margins of the frond tend to roll inward, protecting the abaxial epidermis with the stomata. The name A. consimile Ching was used to describe plants with a somewhat thinner lamina.