ICONES FILICUM SINICARUM 
PLATE 203 
ARCHANGIOPTERIS BIPINNATA Ching 
ANGIOPTERIDACE 
/ 
ARCHANGIOPTERIS BIPINNATA Ching, sp. nov. 
Species distinctissima ab omnibus affinibus adhuc cognitis differt parte basali frondis bipinnata superiore 
simpliciter pinnata, pinnulis pinnarum inferiorum 3-8 jugis, parvis ad 3 cm longis ultra 7 mm medio latis, 
fere sessilibus, pinnis lateralibus terminalique conformibus lineari-lanceolatis ad 15 cm longis 2.5 cm latis 
longe acuminatis, marginibus pinnarum etiam pinnularum e basi usque ad apicem grosse dentatis, soris 
brevibus vix ultra 5 mm _ longis e sporangiis 20-40 vel in lamina pinnularum tantum 10-20 compositis. 
Stipe 60-70 cm long, about 4 mm across, deeply grooved above, pale green, herbaceous, sparsely clothed 
in the lower part in dark brown lanceolate long-acuminate appressed scales and provided with one nodose 
swelling at about 20-34 cm above the base; lamina deltoid-ovate, 40-50 cm long, about 22 cm broad at the 
middle, bipinnate at base, simply impari-pinnate upwards; pinnae 10-12 pairs, of which the basal 3-4 pairs 
much the largest, about 5 cm apart, oblique, alternate, petiolate, the basal pair or two pairs 16-19 cm long, 
¢-7 cm broad, on petioles 2.5-3 cm long, pinnate with 2-7 pairs of small, broadly lanceolate, acuminate, 
patent, coarsely dentate and subsessile lateral pinnules which are 2-3 cm long, about 1 cm broad above the 
round-cuneate base, terminal pinnule large, 7-10 cm long, to 2.8 cm broad; the upper simple pinnae on 
petioles 4-6 mm _ long, linear-lanceolate, gradually long-acuminate, 17-12 cm long, 2-2.8 cm broad near the 
middle, base round-cuneate, margin from base up to apex regularly and prominently dentate; rachis com- 
pressed when dry, narrowly winged on each side towards the apex, terminal pinna similar to the lateral 
ones immediately below; zexture herbaceous, green, when dry glabrous except for a few small brown scales 
on the rachis and costa beneath, also on the inflated petiole; veins distinct on both sides, about 2 mm 
apart, generally simple or forked from above the base, diverging almost at a right angle to the costa and 
running straight towards the margin into each tooth; sori linear, straight, those on the upper simple pinnae 
to about 5 mm long, extending from near the costa to about 4:mm within the leaf-margin, simple or 
forked along the forked veins, consisting of about 20-40 sporangia with dense brown branched paraphyses 
underneath and as long as the sporangia, those on the pinnules of the lower pinnae shorter, of about 10-12 
sporangia, starting from the costule but fall short of the leaf-margin; spores pale, hyaline, round but 
angular with verrucose surface. 
Southeastern Yunnan: Mar-kuan Hsien, Ching-kou (Lao Ching Shan), K. M. Feng 13679, November 
7, 1947, in mixed forest, rare, alt. 1100-1300 m. 
One of the most distinct species in the genus, resembling Marratia in general habit. The discovery 
of a bipinnate-leaved species in the genus Archangiopteris is very important in that it goes to change to a 
certain extent our previous generic concept as to the degree of pinnation, which is simply pinnate in all 
previously known species. 
Plate 203. 1. Habit sketch (natural size). 2.. Portion of simple pinna, showing venation and sori (X 4). 
3. Scale from the lower part of stipe (X 40). 4. Two sporangia attached to the receptacle with paraphyses (X 40). 
5. Two sporangia detached, showing longitudinal slit on the ventral side (X 10). 6. Paraphyses detached from the 
sori (X 100). 7. Spores (X 100). 
