23. Pteris esquirolii Christ, Notul. Syst. (Paris). 1: 50. 1909.
阔叶凤尾蕨 kuo ye feng wei jue
Plants robust, 1-1.5 m tall. Rhizome erect, short, robust, 2-3 cm in diam., woody, with black-brown scales. Fronds clustered, dimorphic; stipe dark straw-colored, sometimes reddish brown, shiny, 60-90 cm (stipes of sterile fronds shorter), 4-6 mm in diam., firm, glabrous, surfaces smooth or ± rough. Sterile fronds: lamina 1-pinnate, 25-30 × ca. 20 cm; rachis straw-colored, adaxially grooved; pinnae 3 or 4(-6) pairs, decumbent, subopposite, basal pairs 4-5 cm apart, basal pair each shortly stalked and with a basiscopic lobe, upper pinnae sessile, simple, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 15-28 × 2-5 cm, base broadly cuneate, margins cartilaginous, entire except for dentate to serrate apex, apex acuminate or tapering. Fertile fronds: lamina 1-pinnate 40-50 × ca. 35 cm; pinnae 5 or 6 pairs, opposite, decumbent, basal 2 or 3 pairs 5-6 cm apart, often with basiscopic lobes, shortly stalked (4-8 mm), upper pinnae sessile, linear, up to 30 × 1-1.3 cm, base cuneate, margin entire, apex acuminate; terminal pinna 3-lobed, base decurrent; midvein extremely convex adaxially, straw-colored, sometimes brownish. Lamina pale green, thinly leathery when dried, glabrous, veins conspicuous on both sides, straight, parallel, subspreading (sterile pinnae slightly decumbent), simple or forked.
Among rocks in dense forests; 800-1500 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, N Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan [N Vietnam].
According to Ralf Knapp (pers. comm.), material from Taiwan currently identified as Pteris pellucidifolia sensu C. M. Kuo (Taiwania 30: 5-99. 1985) might be conspecific with P. esquirolii. For further discussion of P. pellucidifolia, see above under P. cretica var. laeta (p. 191).
