Family

Pteridaceae, subfamily Cheilanthoideae

Nomenclature

Hemionitis vestita (Wall. ex Hook.) J.Sm., Hist. Fil. 151. 1875. – Gymnogramma vestita Wall. ex Hook., Icon. Pl. 2: t. 115. 1837. – Syngramma vestita (Wall. ex Hook.) T.Moore, Index Fil.: lx. 1857; Bedd., Handb. Ferns Brit. India: 386, f. 229. 1883. – Gymnopteris vestita (Wall. ex Hook.) Underw., Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 29: 627. 1902; Tagawa & K.Iwats., Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 25: 19; 1971; Tagawa & K.Iwats., Fl. Thailand 3: 193, f. 14.3. 1985; Boonkerd & Pollawatn, Pterid. Thailand: 123. 2000.

Description

Rhizome short creeping, bearing closely spaced fronds, densely covered with both scales and hairs; scales linear, about 0.1 mm broad, brown, like hairs: hairs downy, brown to paler, up to 5 mm long. Stipes up to 10 cm long, castaneous, densely covered with pale brown soft hairs. Laminae imparipinnate, narrowly elliptic, up to 8 by 2 cm; rachis like stipe, densely beset with paler appressed hairs; lateral pinnae 4–18 pairs, nearly the same in size and form, ovate, acute at apex, round to cordate at base, about l.5 by 1 cm, distinctly stalked, densely covered with a mat of hairs on both surfaces; veins a few times forked, all free. Sori dispersed along veins, naked.

Distribution in Thailand

NORTHERN: Chiang Mai.

Wider Distribution

N India and SW China.

Ecology

In rock crevices at about 2000 m alt. in limestone areas of Doi Chiang Dao.

Proposed IUCN Conservation Assessment

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