Microlepia DENNSTAEDTIACEAE-DAVALLACEAE Nepkrolepis 



Key to the Species 



a. Leaves glabrous, bipinnate to pinnatifid; pinnae deltoid 1. M. wilfordii 



aa. Leaves, stipe and rachis pubescent. 



Leaf narrowly lanceolate, 2-4 cm. broad 2. M. pilosella 



Leaf broadly lanceolate, 10-60 cm. broad. 



Lamina pinnate to bipinnatifid 3. M. margivata 



Lamina bipinnate to tripinnatifid 4. M. strigosa 



1. Microlepia wilfordii Moore (Davallia wilfordii Bak.) (H.S.F. 98). 25-65 cm. tall; 

 fr. VII-X. China, Japan, Korea; locally in Ki. Crevices of rocks and walls. 



2. Microlepia pilosella (Hook.) Moore {Davallia hirsuta Sw.) (H. S. F. 98; C. Chr. 

 210). 15-25 cm. tall; fr. IV-XI; pinnate-bipinnatifid. China, Japan, Korea, Man- 

 churia; locally in An., Ki., Ku. Walls, rocks and ledges. 



3. Microlepia marginata (Houtt.) C. Chr. (Bd. F. 64). 45-100 cm. tall; fr. V-XI; 

 margins serrate to deeply lobed. China, Japan, India, Ceylon; locally in An., Ki., 

 Ku. Wooded hillsides. Fig. 11. 



4. Microlepia strig-osa (Thunb.) Presl Hairy Cup Fern (Bd. F. 67). 40-80 cm. tall; 

 fr. VII-XI; pinnae 12-15 cm. long, 2 cm. broad. China, Japan, Polynesia, India; 

 locally in Che., Ku. Cultivated or on hillsides. 



3. Sphenomeris Maxon Rock Fern &MM (Wu Chiu Shu; Black Leek Genus) 



Terrestrial ferns with short rhizomes: scales on rhizome fibrillose, rufous: stipes 

 tufted; leaves glabrous, tripinnatifid to decompound; ultimate segments cuneate; veins 

 dichotomously branched: sori at truncate apex of segments; indusium membranous, 

 attached by sides and base, compressed, suborbicular, opening outward. 18 species. 

 1. Sphenomeris chinensis (L.) Maxon {Stcnoloma chinensis (L.) Bedd., Odontosoria 

 chinensis (L.) J. Sm.) (Bd. F. 70). 25-60 cm. tall; fr. IV-XI. Asia, Africa; locally 

 in An., Che., Ki., Ku. Rocks, crevices of walls. 

 Better known as Stenoloma or Odontosoria. Fig. 12. 



16. DAVALLIACEAE Reichb. |]#ffif4 (Ku Sui Pu K'o) 



Usually epiphytic or petrophilous ferns: rhizome creeping, scaly: leaves remote, 

 articulate to the rhizome, pinnate to finely dissected: sori submarginal or dorsal, 

 terminal on veins, indusiate. {Nephrolepis differs in being terrestrial; rhizome short; 

 stipes tufted, not articulate to the rhizome.) 12 genera. 



Key to the Genera 



Leaves pinnate; pinnae articulate to rachis; stipes not articulate to rhizome 1. Nephrolepis 



Leaves deltoid, finely dissected; stipes articulate to rhizome. 



Indusium fixed by base and sides 2. Davallia 



Indusium fixed by base ; sides free 3. Humata 



1. Nephrolepis Schott Sword Fern MMM (Yuan Chiieh Shu; 



Round Fern Genus) 



Terrestrial or epiphytic ferns, commonly cultivated in all parts of the world: 

 leaves long and narrow, often stoloniferous; lamina pinnatifid or pinnate, but in 

 mutants of some species often decompound ; pinnae articulate to the rachis and often 

 caducous; veins free, forking: sori submarginal or medial; indusium round or reniform, 

 attached by sinus. 35 species. (Greek: nephros, kidney, and lepis, scale; the indusia 



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