片马瓦韦 pian ma wa wei

Plants 13-23 cm tall. Rhizomes creeping, 1.5-2 mm in diam., densely scaly; scales spreading, yellow-brown, broadly lanceolate, 2.7-3.5 × ca. 1 mm, thin, almost transparent, margin entire, apex awned; lumina large, nearly shortly square to square, occasionally with a narrow opaque brown band. Fronds 0.5-2 cm apart; stipe straw-colored to deep brown, 1-5 cm, 0.5-1.2 mm in diam.; lamina abaxially grayish green when dried, adaxially green, lanceolate, both ends attenuate, (12-)15-25 × 1-2 cm, leathery or thinly leathery, glabrous on both surfaces, base cuneate, slightly decurrent, apex long caudate; costa raised on both sides, veinlets obscure. Sori restricted to distal 1/3-1/2 of lamina, midway between costa and margins, orbicular, 2-3 mm in diam.; paraphyses brown, orbicular, 0.3-0.5 mm in diam., margins with awn-spines; lumina small, usually opaque, sometimes transparent.

● On tree trunks in forests; 2000-2500 m. Yunnan (Lushui, Pianma).

Lepisorus elegans is closely allied to L. thunbergianus. It differs by the spreading, yellow-brown rhizome scales, which are almost transparent, only sometimes with a narrow opaque central band, in contrast to the overlapping, dark, opaque, rhizome scales of L. thunbergianus.