唇边书带蕨 chun bian shu dai jue

Vittaria elongata Swartz, Syn. Fil. 109, 302. 1806; V. formosana Nakai; V. ogasawarensis Kodama; V. pauciariolata Ching; V. tortifrons Hayata.

Rhizome rather long creeping, much branched, bearing roots with very numerous water-absorbing root hairs; scales dark brown, brightly iridescent, subulate-lanceolate, 4-5 mm, 0.5-1 mm wide at base, margin prominently denticulate, apex bristlelike, areole wall thick, dark colored. Fronds clustered, drooping; stipe ca. 0.5 mm distant; lamina thinly leathery, linear or ribbonlike, up to 100 × 0.5-2 cm, base gradually narrowed, apex rounded or obtuse; costa slender, not prominent, veins evident. Soral line marginal, immersed in deep groove, open outward, fertile throughout; paraphyses many, long, with head obconic, longer than wide. Spores monolete, narrowly oblong in outline, surface ornamentation obscure.

Epiphytic or epilithic; 100-1400 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, SE Xizang, S Yunnan [Indonesia, S Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; Australia, Madagascar].

Haplopteris elongata always grows with other epiphytic ferns, notably with Pseudodrynaria coronans (Aglaomorpha coronans) and species of the Asplenium nidus and A. laserpitiifolium groups. It is a polymorphic species, with fluctuations in plant size and scale color depending on the habitat. All Chinese records of Vittaria zosterifolia Willdenow and V. merrillii Christ were based on misidentifications of this species.