Family

Pteridaceae, subfamily Vittarioideae

Nomenclature

Haplopteris scolopendrina (Bory) C.Presl, Tent. Pterid. 141, pl. 5, f. 21. 1836. – Pteris scolopendrina Bory, Voy. 2: 323. 1804. – Vittaria scolopendrina (Bory) Schkuhr ex Thwaites & Hook., Enum. Pl. Zeyl.: 381. 1864; Bedd., Handb. Ferns Brit. India: 408, f. 241. 1883; Ching, Sinensia 1: 189. 1931; Holttum, Rev. Fl. Malaya ed. 1, 2: 611. 1955 [‘1954’]; Tagawa & K.Iwats., Fl. Thailand 3: 228. 1985; Boonkerd & Pollawatn, Pterid. Thailand: 136. 2000.

Description

Rhizome short, creeping, about 4 mm diam., bearing close fronds, scaly; scales narrow, gradually narrowing towards hair-pointed apex, about 7 by up to 0.5 mm, dark brown to nearly black, clathrate, entire. Laminae sessile, about 80 by 3 cm, gradually narrowing towards both ends; costa distinctly raised on upper surface, flat or slightly grooved beneath, chartaceous, fleshy, glabrous, veins ascending, usually visible on upper surface. Sori in shallow groove just inside the margin, up to 2 mm broad, the sterile margin usually inrolled to cover the sori; paraphyses branched , dark brown.

Distribution in Thailand

PENINSULAR: Ranong, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Satun.

Wider Distribution

Widely distributed in the Old World tropics, Madagascar to Samoa, but not found in Indonesia; type from Reunion (Bourbon).

Ecology

On tree trunks in evergreen forests at medium altitudes.

Proposed IUCN Conservation Assessment

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