涪陵耳蕨 fu ling er jue

Plants evergreen. Rhizome erect, short, rhizome apex and basal stipe sparsely scaly; scales ascending and appressed, dark brown, ovate, bases peltate, margins with short cilia, marginate, apices shortly acuminate; cells mostly narrowly rectangular with straight sides, sides of marginal cells irregularly curved. Fronds 30-40 cm; stipe grayish stramineous, 10-12 cm, distal stipe subglabrous. Lamina 1-pinnate, dark brown when dry, narrowly elliptic, 20-28 × ca. 3 cm at middle, slightly contracted toward base, acuminate; rachis stramineous, without proliferous bulbils, glabrous abaxially. Pinnae 30-35 pairs, shortly stalked, alternate, basal pairs remote, remaining pairs contiguous or slightly imbricate, broadly oblong and slightly curved, apices acute or obtuse, bases asymmetrical, acroscopic base weakly auriculate, whole margin except for proximal half of basiscopic side with sparse irregular spinulose teeth, proximal margins of auricles truncate or slightly curved outward, basal basiscopic margins cuneate, margins entire, often slightly recurved, distal part of basiscopic margins angled acroscopically and curved, with 2-4 spinulose teeth; both surfaces glabrous; frond texture papery; venation indistinct, pinnate; lateral veins nearly reaching pinna margin, pinnate above pinna midrib from base upward, dichotomous or simple, simple or dichotomous below pinna midrib. Sori small, terminal on shorter veinlets, close to pinna margin, 2-8 above pinna midrib, 1-3 below pinna midrib on apical part; indusia present, entire.

● Limestone cliffs inside karst caves; ca. 200 m. Chongqing (Fuling).

Polystichum consimile has shortly acuminate lamina apices. The illustration in the protologue is incorrect in having apical free pinnae homomorphic with lateral pinnae.

Fraser-Jenkins (Himalayan Ferns (Guide to Polystichum), 13. 1997) reduced this species to a synonym of Polystichum shensiense, a member of P. sect. Sorolepidium.

This species might be extinct.