ICONES FILICUM SINICARUM 99 



PLATE 49. 



POLYPODIACEAE 



ELAPHOGLOSSUM AUSTRO-SINICUM Matthew et Christ 



ELAPHOGLOSSUM AUSTRO-SINICUM Matthew et Christ in Lecomte Not. Syst. i: 57 (1909); 



C. Chr. Ind. Suppl. 41 (1906-13); Matthew in Journ. Linn. Soc. 39: 368 (1911). 



Arostichum austro-sinicum Tutcher in Fl. Kvvant. and Hongk. 355 (1912). 

 Elaphoglossnm parvulum Copel. in Phil. Journ. Sci. Bot. C 11:40 (1916). 



Rhizome short, thick, densely rooted; leaves 4-6 together, stipes tufted, thick, 

 stout, 3 mm. across, greenish, deeply sulcate above, terete below, 3-6 cm. long, copiously 

 clothed in broad, ovate, membranaceous, entire, scarious light brown, obtuse scales 5 

 mm. long; sterile frond 15-30 cm. long, 3-3.5 cm. broad at the middle, cultrato-lanceol- 

 ate, from the middle upward gradually acuminate in an obtuse apex, long decurrent 

 towards the base, margin entire, thickened, surfaces, particularly the under, densly 

 clothed with small blackish lacerato-dilated adpressed scales; costa very broad, plane, 2-3 

 mm. broad, pale green; lateral veins very oblique, inconspicuous, 2 mm. apart, extend- 

 ing to the thickened margin, mostly simple or forked; texture carnoso-coriaceous, thick, 

 light green above, pale green beneath; fertile fronds somewhat narrower, much shorter 

 than the sterile, stipes 7-10 cm. long; sori dark brown, covering the entire under surface 

 except the midrib and a narrow free margin. 



Distribution: Kwangtung, Kwangsi, Fukien. 



A very distinct species, characterized by a broad flat midrib, broad thickened 

 margin, thick carnoso-subcoriaceous texture and dense coating of lacerate-dilated brown 

 scales underneath. It was first found by Dr. Matthew in Tai-mo-shan, New Territory, 

 opposite Hongkong, in 1907, on shaded granite cliff, and of late has been reported from 

 several localities from Kwangsi. The type specimen of the present species consisting of 

 3-4 robust sterile leaves represents rather an extreme form. 



Elaphoglossnm parvulun Copel. based upon Dunn's specimen, No. 3821, from Cen- 

 tral Fukien (1905), is not specifically different from the type except of smaller size with 



k 



somewhat broader leaves, only about half as long as the type. All the specimens from 

 Kwangsi I have examined are mostly approaching the type in dimension. — R. C. C. 



Plate 49. Fig. 1. Habit sketch (natural size). 2. Venation (x 2). 3 Two sporangia (x 106). 

 4. Scales from the base of stipe (x 10). 



