Ferns of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia

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Family

Dennstaedtiaceae

Nomenclature

Microlepia firma Mett. ex Kuhn, Linnaea 36: 146. 1869; Sledge, Kew Bull. 11: 529. 1956; Ching, Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 2: 231. 1959; Tagawa & K.Iwats., SouthE. Asian Stud. 5: 72. 1967; Tagawa & K.Iwats., Fl. Thailand 3: 116. 1979; Boonkerd & Pollawatn, Pterid. Thailand: 87. 2000.

Microlepia hirta auct. non (Kaulf.) C.Presl: C.Chr., Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 26: 332. 1931.

Description

Rhizome thick, long creeping, about 7 mm diam., very densely covered with setose shining deep brown hairs of about 3 mm long. Stipes about 1 cm apart, more than 5 mm diam., stramineous, densely hairy at base, sparsely hairy upwards or glabrescent in the older ones, up to 80 cm long; lamina quadripinnatifid, oblong-subdeltoid, acute to acuminate at apex, up to 70 cm long, 50 cm wide; rachis like the upper part of stipes, hairy on the under surface, more densely upwards; pinnae more than 10 in pairs, the upper ones gradually reducing in size, the lowest ones the largest, the larger 10–15 cm apart, with stalks of more than 3 cm, subtriangular, acuminate at apex, cuneate at base, up to 25 cm long, 20 cm wide; costa grooved on upper surface, hairy beneath; the larger pinnules oblong-subdeltoid to oblong-lanceolate, slightly falcate, gradually narrowing towards caudately acute apex, unequally cuneate and distinctly stalked at base, up to 12 cm long, 5 cm wide, the distal pinnules smaller in size, less dissected and sessile; costules strigose-hairy on the underside; larger ultimate segments pinnatisect, acute to acuminate at apex, the smaller subentire to entire, round at apex; the ultimate lobes oblong to spathulate, obscurely undulate or entire, round at apex; veins pinnate, raised on both surfaces, hairy underneath, chartaceous, deep green above and green below. Sori at sinus between the teeth of ultimate segments somewhat raised on the upper surface; indusia cup-shaped densely hairy .

Distribution in Thailand

NORTHERN: Chiang Mai.

Wider Distribution

E Himalaya to SW China (Yunnan) and Upper Burma, also in Sri Lanka.

Ecology

On clayey soil in dense lower montane forest above 1800 m alt.

Proposed IUCN Conservation Assessment

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

	Ferns of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia
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Microlepia firma Mett. ex Kuhn Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in C:\Data\serverroots\htdocs\ThaiFerns\factsheets\functions.php on line 17 Family Dennstaedtiaceae Nomenclature Microlepia firma Mett. ex Kuhn, Linnaea 36: 146. 1869; Sledge, Kew Bull. 11: 529. 1956; Ching, Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 2: 231. 1959; Tagawa & K.Iwats., SouthE. Asian Stud. 5: 72. 1967; Tagawa & K.Iwats., Fl. Thailand 3: 116. 1979; Boonkerd & Pollawatn, Pterid. Thailand: 87. 2000. Microlepia hirta auct. non (Kaulf.) C.Presl: C.Chr., Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 26: 332. 1931. Description Rhizome thick, long creeping, about 7 mm diam., very densely covered with setose shining deep brown hairs of about 3 mm long. Stipes about 1 cm apart, more than 5 mm diam., stramineous, densely hairy at base, sparsely hairy upwards or glabrescent in the older ones, up to 80 cm long; lamina quadripinnatifid, oblong-subdeltoid, acute to acuminate at apex, up to 70 cm long, 50 cm wide; rachis like the upper part of stipes, hairy on the under surface, more densely upwards; pinnae more than 10 in pairs, the upper ones gradually reducing in size, the lowest ones the largest, the larger 10–15 cm apart, with stalks of more than 3 cm, subtriangular, acuminate at apex, cuneate at base, up to 25 cm long, 20 cm wide; costa grooved on upper surface, hairy beneath; the larger pinnules oblong-subdeltoid to oblong-lanceolate, slightly falcate, gradually narrowing towards caudately acute apex, unequally cuneate and distinctly stalked at base, up to 12 cm long, 5 cm wide, the distal pinnules smaller in size, less dissected and sessile; costules strigose-hairy on the underside; larger ultimate segments pinnatisect, acute to acuminate at apex, the smaller subentire to entire, round at apex; the ultimate lobes oblong to spathulate, obscurely undulate or entire, round at apex; veins pinnate, raised on both surfaces, hairy underneath, chartaceous, deep green above and green below. Sori at sinus between the teeth of ultimate segments somewhat raised on the upper surface; indusia cup-shaped densely hairy . Distribution in Thailand NORTHERN: Chiang Mai. Wider Distribution E Himalaya to SW China (Yunnan) and Upper Burma, also in Sri Lanka. Ecology On clayey soil in dense lower montane forest above 1800 m alt. Proposed IUCN Conservation Assessment Least Concern (LC). This species is widespread outside Thailand and not under any known threat. Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in C:\Data\serverroots\htdocs\ThaiFerns\factsheets\functions.php on line 17
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