







ICONES FILICUM SINICARUM 



33 



PLATE 17. 



CYRTOMIUM FRAXINELLUM Christ 



POLYPODIACEAE 



> 



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CYRTOMIUM FRAXINELLUM Christ in Bull. Geogr. Bot. Mans (1902) 264; C. Chr. Ind. 



Suppl. 101 (1906-13). • 



* 



Polystichum fraxinellum Diels in Nat. PfJ. Fam. I. 4. 494; C. Chr. Ind. 582 (1906); Matthew 

 in Journ. Linn. Soc. 39: 386 (1911). 



A spidium fraxinellum Christ in Bull. Boiss. 7: 15 (1899). 



» 



Rhizome short, thick, oblique, strong, scales dense, broad, acuminate, inflated, 

 reddish-brown; stipes 2-6 clustered, 10-25 cm. long, dark brown at the base and covered 

 with numerous small subulate-lanceolate dark brown deciduous scales, growing pale 

 gray and sparse upward; frond simply pinnate, oval-oblong, to 20 cm. long, 8 cm. broad, 

 scarcely reduced at the base, terminated at the apex sometimes by an entire of some- 

 times pinnatifid pinna; rachis gray, sparsely scaly or glabrous; pinnae few, usually 

 5-10 on each side, erect-patent, remote, alternate, lanceolate, acuminate, cuneate and 

 attenuate towards the base on short petiole, the edge almost entire but distinctly 

 crenate towards the apex; texture thick coriaceous, smooth, dark glossy green abover 

 very pale and somewhat corrugated (upon drying) below, glabrous, margin slightly 

 reflexed; veins not prominent, numerous, close, anastomosing in a row of narrow areolae 

 almost reaching the margin without included free veinlets or often imperfectly pinnate 

 or rather 2-3-bifurcate in each group; sori 2-3 mm. across, rounded, blackishbrown, 

 uniseriate, terminating a short lateral veinlet in the areola, about 18-30 on each side, 

 placed midway between the costa and margin. 



Distribution: Yunnan, Kweichow, Szechuan, and Kwangsi. 



This distinct species was first collected by A. Henry in Yunnan, on wooded clif, 

 later (1889) by Pere Bodinier in Kweichow, and still later by Wilson in Szechuan. It 

 was of very late (1928) collected in N. W. Kwangsi, where it is a fairly common fern, 

 inhabiting the crevices and nitches in limestone cliff. In habit this fern is closely 

 allied to some from of C.fortunei J. Sm., differs in blackish-brown uniseriate sori, thick 

 leathery glossy green leaves and cuneate base of the pinnae. 



Plate 17. Fig. 1. Habit sketch (natural size). 2. A pinna, showing venation and sori (x 2). 

 3. A detatched inducium (x 52). 4. Scales from the base of stipe (x 8). 





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