斜基柳叶耳蕨 xie ji liu ye er jue

Cyrtogonellum minimum Y. T. Hsieh, Bull. Bot. Res., Harbin 9(3): 17. 1989; C. inaequale (Christ) Ching; Cyrtomium fraxinellum (Christ) Christ var. inaequale Christ.

Plants evergreen. Rhizome erect or ascending, together with basal stipe densely scaly; scales dark brown or blackish brown, lanceolate, margins ciliate, apices acuminate. Fronds 14-54 cm; stipe stramineous, 6-26 cm, 2-2.5 mm in diam. at middle; basal stipe scales dense, blackish brown, lanceolate or subulate, membranous, margins ciliate, apices caudate, distal stipe scales sparser and smaller. Lamina imparipinnate, grayish green when dry, adaxially shiny, linear-lanceolate, 8-28 × 2.5-3.5 cm at middle, not or only basalmost pinnae slightly contracted toward base, cuspidate; rachis stramineous, without proliferous bulbils, sparsely scaly abaxially; scales similar to distal stipe scales, appressed, brown, ovate-lanceolate, margins ciliate, apices filiform. Apical pinna with same shape as lateral pinnae but smaller; lateral pinnae 7-34 pairs, alternate, lower pairs approximate, upper pairs approximate, lower pairs attached at ± right angles with rachis, upper pairs slightly ascendant, shortly stalked, obliquely ovate, middle pairs 1.5-2.5 × 0.6-0.9 cm, bases asymmetrical, acroscopic base hardly auriculate, proximal acroscopic margins of pinnae curved and slightly overlapping rachis, acroscopic margins truncate or very slightly recurved, regularly shallowly incised-toothed, basal basiscopic margins cuneate, forming a ± 80° angle with rachis, entire, distal basiscopic margins curved upward, regularly shallowly incised-toothed, apices acute or shortly acuminate, rarely obtuse; adaxially glabrous, abaxially sparsely scaly; microscales light brown, subulate; frond texture thinly leathery; venation pinnate on pinnae, lateral veins 2- or 3-forked, slightly sunken on both surfaces. Sori in 1 row on each side of midrib, terminal on shorter veinlets, medial, lower lamina often sterile; indusia present, brown, thickly membranous, entire, evanescent. 2n = 123*.

● Limestone crevices in forests, rarely in limestone caves; 500-1500 m. Chongqing (Jinfo Shan), NW Guangxi (Tian’e), Guizhou.

Although Cyrtogonellum inaequale (Christ) Ching (1938) is older than C. minimum Y. T. Hsieh (1989), the epithet "inaequale" is blocked by Polystichum inaequale Von Keyserling (1873) when the species is transferred to Polystichum.