短柄瓦韦 duan bing wa wei

Plants 10-25 cm tall. Rhizomes creeping, 2-2.5 mm in diam., densely scaly, persistent only at apex and near phyllopodia; scales bicolored, deep brown with brownish to nearly colorless margins, lanceolate, 2.5-4 × 0.8-1.5 mm, basifixed, margins erose, apex shortly acuminate; middle lumina nearly isodiametric, transparent. Fronds 0.5-1.5 cm apart; stipe ± deep brown, 0.5-1.5 cm, hard and smooth; lamina pale green when fresh, abaxially grayish brown, adaxially deep brown when dried, narrowly lanceolate, 18-30 × 1-2.5 cm, widest at or below middle, thinly leathery, with scales orbicular or narrowly lanceolate, lumina brown, hyaline, base cuneate, decurrent, margin slightly revolute, apex shortly acuminate; costa raised on both sides, veinlets obscure. Sori on distal half of lamina, closer to margin, orbicular, 2-3 mm in diam.; paraphyses brown, orbicular, 0.3-0.5 mm in diam.; lumina small, thick-walled, transparent.

● On limestone rocks in shaded areas of forests; 800-1000 m. Guangdong, Guangxi (Fengshan).

Lepisorus subsessilis is a rare species, endemic to limestone areas, with bicolored rhizome scales, with brown margins and darker center, and leathery, evergreen fronds that distinguish it from species of L. sect. Pachyphyllon S. L. Yu.