膜叶星蕨 mo ye xing jue

Polypodium membranaceum D. Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 2. 1825; Colysis membranacea (D. Don) J. Smith (1857), not (Blume) C. Presl (1849); Lepidomicrosorium hymenodes (Kunze) L. Shi & X. C. Zhang; Microsorum hymenodes (Kunze) Ching; Pleopeltis grandifolia (Wallich ex Christ) T. Moore; P. membranacea (D. Don) T. Moore ex Beddome; Polypodium grandifolium Wallich ex Christ; P. hymenodes Kunze; P. hymenodes var. sparsisorum Takeda, nom. illeg. superfl.; P. membranaceum var. grandifolium (Wallich ex Christ) Alderwerelt; P. transparens C. Presl ex Ettingshausen.

Rhizome creeping, thick, 3-10 mm in diam., dorsiventrally flattened or subcylindrical, not white waxy. Scales pseudopeltate, ovate or triangular, 1.5-9 × 1-3 mm, margin entire, apex acute, clathrate except for hyaline marginal region, central region bearing multiseptate hairs at least when young. Fronds not or slightly dimorphic. Stipe up to 15 cm, 3-5 mm in diam. Lamina simple, ovate to elliptic or narrowly so to linear, (5-) 25-110 × (1-)5-15 cm, membranous, base narrowly decrescent, stipe winged for a considerable part, margin entire, apex acuminate. Veins prominent and distinct. Sori separate, on whole surface of lamina, sometimes forming 2-8 irregular rows between veins or some connate, elongate on veinlets, orbicular or elongate, 1-2 mm in diam., or length ca. 2.5 mm, superficial or slightly sunken.

Epilithic, rarely epiphytic or terrestrial in evergreen or deciduous broad-leaved (sub)tropical forests, often in valleys or ravines; 500-2600 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Kashmir, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam].

The fronds of Microsorum membranaceum are shed seasonally.

The authors have not seen material of Microsorum membranaceum var. carinatum W. M. Chu & Z. R. He (Acta Bot. Yunnan. 22: 257. 2000), described from Sichuan. "Phymatodes grandifolia" (C. Presl, Tent. Pterid. 198. 1836, nom. nud.) was not validly published (Melbourne Code, Art. 38.1(a)).