Angiopteris palmiformis (Cav.) C. Chr., Dansk Bot. Ark. 9(3): 30, t. 3, f. 7-8 30 1937. (Syn: Angiopteris angustifolia C. Presl; Angiopteris durvilleana de Vriese; Clementea palmiformis Cav.);
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Giant Fern; salaguisog, pakong-kalabaw (Philippines) ;
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Fern from Mt Slamet Central Java 2:
Could you validate the ID of our ferns please.
Is it Angiopteris evecta?
It is a short stemmed fern.
Fronds 2 – 4 m long, stalk looks smooth, green, 3 – 4 cm diameter.
2000 m alt. Thank you.


The big Angiopteris from Gunung Slamet appears to be A. palmiformis, I would think, though I hestitate as we still do not have a useable list of Javan pteridophytes as far as I’m aware – and as I saw from visiting Gunung Ged and the south, things can get complicated in the fern paradise of Java!
But the huge size, smooth stipe, pinnae with very many pinnules and in particular the pinnules having a cordate base, all look like that species.
If so, the recurrent false veins, which are important in Angiopteris, should go to at least half way back to the pinnule midrib, or a little more, before becoming indistinct. The sori are a little bit inframarginal, not unlike our common Indian A. helferiana.
A. palmiformis also occurs in far N.E. India – in Arunachal Pradesh and adjacent Assam – and right through from Myanmar and S.E. Asia to the Philippines.
A. evecta is neither present in India, nor Java, but confined to Oceania – described from Tahiti – its recurrents reach the costa, among other small differences. In the past all were just called “A. evecta“, but as Holttum showed, that was incorrect.
The other difficulty in Angiopteris is the mass of pointless synonyms made by C. Presl, de Vriese and then Hieronymus and Ching – some authors, from Christensen onwards, have already cast doubt on them and many have been sunk now. But Angiopteris is a difficult genus with quite a number of species, three in India, too.



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