ICONES FILICUM SINICARUM 
PLATE 65 
LEPISORUS BICOLOR Ching 
POLY PODIACEAE 
LEPISORUS BICOLOR Ching, Bull. Fan Mem. Inst. Biol. 4: 66 (1933). 
Polypodium excavatum var. bicolor Takeda, Notes, R. Bot. Gard. Edinb. 8: 279 (1915); Hand- 
Mzt. Symb. Sinic. 6: 43 (1929); C. Chr. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 26: 319 (1931). 
Rhizome rather thick, epigeeous, densely imbricatingly scaly; scales adpressed, 
broadly ovate, short-acuminate with erosed margin, discolorous, luminz in central band 
small, narrow, dark-colored and thick-walled, but quite clear with flexous, thin cell- 
walls towards the light-colored hyaline margin; frond about 1 cm apart, shortly but 
distinctly stipitate, stipe covered more or less in similar scales, lamina linear-lanceolate, 
attenuate to both ends, 15-20 cm long, 1.5-2 cm broad at the lower one-third, being the 
broadest part, margin plane; texture chartaceous, greenish, tinged brown, the underside 
and particularly along the midrib more or less scaly; veins obscure, but distinct under 
light; sori rounded, nearer to the midrib than to the margin. 
Yunnan: Mengtze, A. Henry 10088; Tou-dza Ducloux 2813; Tong Chow, E. 
E. Maire 6918B, 6061 (partim);. Lao-houy Shan, prés Tali, Ducloux 5043; 
Lickiang, C. Schnesider 2956, 2117, 2808, 3125; G. Forrest 8083; J. F Rock 5887; 
Salween, Forrest 15091, 27076; Laokou Chow, Ducloux 955; Mao-ku Chang, Delavay, 
July 7, 1883; Mengtze, Hancock 39 (Kew No.); between Yungbei and Boloti, Handel- 
Mazzetti 3329; near Lickiang, Handel-Mazzetti 3588. Hupeh: Ichang, A. Henry 2465; 
Patung, Henry 1739, 5315. Shensi: Thae-pei Shan, Purdom 96. Szechuan occid: Wilson 
5817, 5817A, 2687, 5815; Tatsienlu, Wilson 2637; Teng-hsiang-ying, H. Smith 1893A; 
Ta-hsiang-ling, H. Smith 2088; Moupin, David. 
Sikkim: Kumaon, Strachey and Winterbottom 2; Darjeeling, Griffith. 
Almost without exception, this fern has generally been identified as Polypodium 
excavatum by authors on the Northern Indian and western Chinese ferns, and more 
recently as var. bicolor by Takeda. In fact, it differs from the Himalayan Polypodium 
excavatum particullarly in scales, which are not only discolorous as first observed by 
Takeda but also much smaller than, and of an entirely different outline from, those 
in the other species. The extant herbarium material has also shown that this fern 
occupies rather a distinct though contiguous geographical area, namely, the western 
China, whence P. excavatum is so far unknown. 
Plate 65. Fig. 1. habit sketch (natural size). 2. paraphysis from a sorus (X50). 3. scales 
from rhizome (X50). 
