旱蕨 han jue

Cheilanthes nitidula subsp. henryi (Christ) Fraser-Jenkins; Mildella henryi (Christ) C. C. Hall & Lellinger; M. nitidula (Wallich ex Hooker) C. C. Hall & Lellinger; Pellaea henryi Christ; P. nitidula (Wallich ex Hooker) Baker.

Rhizomes ascending to erect, sometimes with creeping branches; scales bicolorous, dark brown with very narrow, light brown margins, subulate-lanceolate. Fronds numerous, clustered or closely spaced. Stipe dark brown to nearly black, 6-20 cm × 1-1.5 mm, terete, with ± bicolorous, subulate-lanceolate to linear scales near base, these grading abruptly to sparse, unicellular scales, also with sparse to occasionally dense, short, reddish brown, unicellular hairs, these sometimes mostly adaxial. Lamina brownish green when dried, oblong to oblong-deltoid, 4-12 × 3-6 cm, 2-pinnate-pinnatifid, leathery, glabrous on both surfaces, apex blunt or shortly caudate; rachis and costae dark brown, densely shortly hairy. Pinnae 3-5 pairs, sessile or subsessile; basal pair longest, deltoid, 2.5-3.5 × 2-2.5 cm; pinnules relatively closely spaced, those of basal pinnae 4-6 pairs, adnate to costae; basiscopic pinnules enlarged, basal basiscopic pinnules longer than adjacent acroscopic ones, oblong, 1.5-2 × 0.8-1.5 cm, pinnatifid, with 5-7 pairs of lanceolate to deltoid segments, other pinnules lanceolate or linear, few lobed to entire. Sori confluent, not interrupted at sinuses or segment tips. False indusia continuous, brown, membranous, margins irregularly dentate to erose, sparsely ciliate. 2n = 58, 116.

On rocks in forests and dry valleys; 200-2400 m. Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, India, Japan, Kashmir, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam].

Traditionally, two taxa have been accepted in this complex. Cheilanthes nitidula subsp. henryi occurs in the eastern portion of the species range and differs from subsp. nitidula mostly in its denser rachis and stipe pubescence with the hairs often tending to extend around the stipe (vs. restricted to the adaxial side). The ranges of the two subspecies overlap extensively and there are too many intermediates to allow formal recognition of subspecies.