红鳞耳蕨 hong lin er jue

Plants summer-green. Rhizome erect or ascending, densely covered with lanceolate reddish brown scales. Fronds 40-70 cm; stipe stramineous, 22-34 cm, 4-5 mm in diam. at base, lower part often persistent, densely scaly; scales reddish brown, lanceolate and linear, lower part of stipe with larger ovate reddish brown scales. Lamina bipinnate, narrowly ovate or narrowly elliptic, 32-60 × 18-26 cm, slightly contracted toward base, acuminate; rachis without proliferous bulbils, stramineous, both surfaces densely scaly; scales reddish brown, lanceolate and linear. Pinnae 20-25 pairs, alternate, attached at nearly right angles to rachis, shortly stalked, linear-lanceolate, slightly ascendant, middle pairs 8-15 × 2-2.5 cm, bases obliquely broadly cuneate, auriculate acroscopically, pinnate, apices long acuminate and sometimes caudate. Pinnules 14-20 pairs, nearly opposite, slightly ascendant, obliquely oblong, 1-1.8 cm × 5-8 mm, bases obliquely cuneate, auriculate acroscopically, margins with acute small teeth, apices acute; pinnules of basal acroscopic pinnae largest and often pinnatilobate; filiform microscales on abaxial surface denser than on adaxial surface; frond texture papery; venation pinnate, abaxially distinct. Sori in 1 row on each side of pinnule midrib, exindusiate.

● Broad-leaved forests, alpine coniferous forests, forest margins; 2400-3500 m. W Sichuan (Luding, Shimian), SE Xizang (Zayü), NW and W Yunnan.

Polystichum rufopaleaceum is similar to the Japanese species P. microchlamys (Christ) Matsumura, but its lower pinnae are not contracted, its scales are reddish brown, and its sori are exindusiate.

Polystichum microchlamys sensu S. K. Wu & X. Chen (Vasc. Pl. Hengduan Mts. 1: 139. 1993) should be treated as this species.