文笔峰耳蕨 wen bi feng er jue

Plants evergreen. Rhizome short, ascending or erect, 1.5-2 cm. Fronds more than 10, 40-50 cm; stipe stramineous, 12-18 cm, 1.5-2 mm in diam. at base, sparsely covered with large and small scales; large scales brown, not appressed, lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, up to 5 mm, membranous, entire; small scales appressed, brown, membranous, toothed. Lamina 1-pinnate, light green when dry, adaxially darker, lanceolate, 20-32 × 3.5-4.5 cm, base nearly truncate, not or slightly contracted, apex acuminate or long acuminate; rachis stramineous, without proliferous bulbils, sparsely covered with scales abaxially; scales appressed, brown, ovate, membranous, sparsely toothed, caudate with long acute tip. Pinnae 20-30 pairs, alternate or nearly opposite, shortly stalked, attached at right angles to rachis or slightly ascendant, nearly right triangular, up to 2.5 cm × 6 mm at middle, apices shortly acuminate, shortly spinulose, bases obviously asymmetrical, acroscopic base auriculate, auricles deltoid, apices spinulose, sparsely shallowly toothed on both margins, acroscopic margins often straight or substraight, with regular coarse teeth, teeth mostly shortly spinulose at apex, basal basiscopic margins narrowly cuneate, basiscopic margins substraight or slightly curved upward, distal basiscopic margins sparsely toothed; adaxially glabrous, abaxially sparsely scaly; microscales light brown, lanceolate; frond texture papery; venation visible abaxially, indistinct adaxially, pinnate; lateral veins above midrib pinnate from base to apex, dichotomous or simple, simple or dichotomous below midrib, lateral veins mostly reaching teeth. Sori small, terminal on shorter veinlets, located at bases of teeth, close to pinna margin, up to 10 above midrib, fewer than 4 below midrib and located on upper part; indusia present, dark brown, membranous, subentire, caducous.

● Limestone crevices in broad-leaved forests; 2500-2800 m. NW Yunnan (Lijiang).

Polystichum pseudoacutidens is similar to P. acutidens but differs in having more (more than 10) fronds per rhizome, pinnae nearly right triangular, with basiscopic margins often straight and marginal teeth often opening, and sori close to pinna margin.