Hypolepis 



PTERIDACEAE 



Pteris 



bb. Sori confluent or continuous. 



c. Sori borne on a marginal vein which connects the apices of 

 the veinlets: stipes not glossy. 

 Rhizome hairy, without scales: inner thin indusium present 



under the reflexed leaf margin 2. Pteridium 



Rhizome and base of stipe scaly: inner indusium absent.. 3. Pteris 

 cc. Sori borne on the tips of unconnected veins: stipes glossy. 



Lamina farinose beneath 6. Aleuritopteris 



Lamina not farinose beneath. 



Indusia formed by continuous reflexed margin 4. Pellaea 



Indusia distinct, often in contact, not continuous 5. Cheilanthes 



1. Hypolepis Bernh. YfMMM (Lo Pao Chiieh Shu; 

 Naked Indusiate Fern Genus) 



Large terrestrial ferns: rhizome widely creeping; stipes not articulate; leaves 

 herbaceous, bi- to tripinnate; veins free: sori round, near margin, single in the sinuses, 

 protected by reflexed marginal lobes, these too small to cover them permanently: stipe 

 and rachis viscous-pubescent; hairs multicellular, simple, pointed. 45 species. (From 

 the Greek, meaning " scales underneath ".) 

 1. Hypolepis punctata (Thunb.) Mett. (Phegopteris punctata (Thunb.) Mett.) (Bd. F. 



295). 70 cm. to 2 m. tall; fr. V-X; leaves tripinnate. Asia, Polynesia; locally in 



An., Che., Ki. Stream banks. 



2. Pteridium Gleditsch Bracken Fern MM (Chiieh Shu) 

 Large coarse ferns in open or partly shaded habitats: rhizomes creeping, covered 

 with simple hairs, ivithout scales: leaves deltoid in outline, bipinnate to decompound: 

 sori marginal, linear, continuous; the reflexed margin of the leaf covering a thin inner 

 membranous true indusium. 6 species. (Name a diminutive of Pteris, a fern genus 

 with which genus Pteridium has often been merged.) 

 1. Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn Bracken Fern {Pteris aquilina Linn.) (Chiieh) 

 (H. S. F. 162). 40cm. to 2 m. tall; fr. VII-XI; leaves bipinnate to decompound. 

 Cosmopolitan; locally in An., Che., Ki., Ku. Open hillsides. 



3. Pteris Linn. WcMM (I Chiieh Shu; Similar-to-Bracken Fern Genus) 



Plants medium to large: rhizome aud base of stripe scaly , some species having also 

 hairs: leaves pinnate to tripinnate: sori linear, marginal, continuous, on narrow vein- 

 like receptacle connecting the ends of the forked free veins; indusium formed by the 

 reflexed edge of the leaf. 280 species. (Greek: Pteris, a fern.) 



Key to the Species 



a. Leaves pinnate. 



b. Lower pinnae linear, undivided. 



Stipe long; lower pinnae longest 1. P. cretica 



Stipe short; lower pinnae shortened 2. P. vittata 



bb. Lower pinnae again divided, linear, long; sterile pinnae broader 

 than fertile; margins serrate. 



Rachis winged; upper pinnae decurrent 3. P. multifida 



Rachis not winged; terminal pinna sessile or petiolate 1. P. cretica 



aa. Leaves bipinnate; lateral pinnae unequally bipinnate, the abaxial 

 side of pinna divided, the adaxial side entire or with much 

 shorter lobes 4 . P. semipinnata 



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