Family

Dryopteridaceae

Nomenclature

Bolbitis heteroclita (C.Presl) Ching ex C.Chr., Index Filic. Suppl. III.: 48. 1934; Tardieu & C.Chr., Fl. Indo-Chine 7(2): 434. 1941; Holttum, Rev. Fl. Malaya ed. 1, 2: 462, f. 271. 1955 [‘1954’]; Holttum, Dansk Bot. Ark. 20: 30. 1961; Holttum, Dansk Bot. Ark 23: 237. 1965; Tagawa & K.Iwats., SouthE. Asian Stud. 3(3): 85. 1965; Tagawa & K.Iwats., SouthE. Asian Stud. 5: 91. 1967; Hennipman, Leiden Bot. Ser. 2: 221, f. 60. 1977; Holttum, Fl. Males., Ser. II, Pterid. 1: 325, f. 25d & 31a–g. 1978; Tagawa & K.Iwats., Fl. Thailand 3: 320. 1988; Boonkerd & Pollawatn, Pterid. Thailand: 150. 2000; Boonkerd & Pollawatn, Pterid. Thailand: 183. 2000. – Acrostichum heteroclitum C.Presl, Reliq. Haenk. 1: 15, pl. 2, f. 2. 1825. – Leptochilus heteroclitus (C.Presl) C.Chr., Index Filic.: 385. 1906; C.Chr., Bot. Tidssk, 32: 343. 1916.

Description

Terrestrial, lithophytic or rarely epiphytic. Rhizome long creeping, scaly; scales nearly black with narrow brown ferrugineous margin, linear, up to 5 by 1 mm. Sterile frond: stipe 10–30 cm long, stramineous; lamina simple or imparipinnate with one or two pairs of lateral pinnae; lateral pinnae oblong, cuneate and shortly stalked at base, caudate at apex, 4–7 cm apart, 7–15 by 3–6 cm, almost entire or irregularly shallowly waved, terminal pinna oblong, or often very long-tailed with narrow linear tails 50–80 cm long, up to 15–20(–30) cm long excluding the tail, 5 cm broad; rachis narrowly winged, glabrescent; costa naked, sometimes viviparous; veins distinct on both surfaces, finely reticulated, without included free veinlets; herbaceous or softly papyraceous, glabrous, deep green, blackish when dry. Fertile frond: stipe nearly the same as or larger than those of sterile ones; lateral pinnae up to 4 pairs, oblong, about 5 by 2.7 cm, apical pinna a little larger than lateral ones, veins reticulate; sporangia spread over the whole undersurface of pinnae .

Distribution in Thailand

NORTHERN: Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lampang, Phitsanulok; SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan; CENTRAL: Nakhon Nayok; SOUTH-EASTERN: Chachoengsao, Chon Buri, Chanthaburi, Trat; PENINSULAR: Nakhon Si Thammarat, Trang, Satun, Yala.

Wider Distribution

N India, Upper Burma, S and SW China, Taiwan, Ryukyu, Indochina, throughout Malesia to New Guinea.

Ecology

On wet ground or on muddy moist rocks usually near streams in dense forests, or rarely epiphytic on base of tree trunks, at low or medium altitudes.

Proposed IUCN Conservation Assessment

Least Concern (LC). This species is widespread and not under any known threats.

Notes

Characteristic of this species is the presence of apical prolonged lobes. In the epiphytic condition no prolonged terminal pinnae are formed though they reach to 30 cm in length.

Voucher specimens - Thailand

Middleton et al. 4685, Chanthaburi, Khlong Khrue Wai Wildlife Sanctuary (E); Middleton et al. 4733, Chachoengsao, Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary (E).