Pteris aspericaulis Wall. ex J. Agardh, Recens. Spec. Pter. 22 1839. (Syn: Pteris aspericaulis var. aspericaulis; Pteris aspericaulis var. cuspigera Ching ; Pteris bomiensis Ching & S.K.Wu ; Pteris cuspigera (Ching) Xiao Q.Song ; Pteris pseudoquadriaurita Khullar ; Pteris rubronervia W.Bull ex J.Dix ; Pteris shimianensis H.S.Kung );
. Pakistan to China (Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi) and Indo-China, Taiwan: Assam, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam, West Himalaya as per POWO; .
Terrestrial herbs with erect rhizome, 2-3 x 2 cm. Scales 2-5 x 0.1-0.3 mm, linear, dark brown in the middle, hyaline along margins, fimbriate. Fronds 50-70 x 20-30 cm; stipe 25-30 cm long, scaly beneath, glabrous, pinkish-red, polished above; lamina 25-30 x 20-30 cm, bipinnate, elliptic-oblong in outline; pinnae 10-13 x 2-3 cm, lanceolate, acuminate in outline, opposite, except terminal one, 4 or 5 pairs, basal pinnae bipartite, basiscopic half smaller, pinnae deeply lobed almost to the costa; lobes to 2 x 0.5 cm, oblong, rounded, entire, spinules present along the costa and costules, veins free forked. Sori linear, 0.5-1 cm long, along the margins of the lobes in the middle. Sporangial capsule 350 x 250 µm, stalk 375 µm long. Spores 50 x 50 µm, dark brown triangular in outline. Evergreen forests at high altitude regions.
Kerala (Palakkad and Idukki districts)
Attributions- K. P. Rajesh)
. Another Fern/ABNOV07 : 8 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (2)
This is another beautiful fern with smooth texture. The fronds are fresh green. These ones grow to be about half a meter generally. Please help with the ID. Mcleodganj, Dharamshala, HP
1750m
06 November, 2014 ferns always wise to take pics of the spores on the reverse of the older fronds Thank you … I sometimes, but not always, take the picture of the spores. Does the shape/colour of the spores help in identification too? yes. our fern expert … always wants to see the spores/sporangia I hope this is the same fern I had sent before. It was more difficult to find spores on this one. Most plants, perhaps, are young at the moment. This is Pteris aspericaulis Pteris aspericaulis/Consolidating ABNOV07 : 2 posts by 2 authors. Attachments(5) Again Dr Chris had helped in identifying this as Pteris aspericaulis.
I have now better photographs and a few ID points;
Pteris aspericaulis
Mcleodganj, Dharamshala, HP
6 December 2014
This is a common fern averaging about 50cm long. The stalk is thin, claret coloured, slightly hairy at the base but mostly smooth up
The long pinna at the apex (though not exclusive to this fern) is conspicuous. In this sample it was about 9 cm long.
The bottom pinnae (usually the bottom two pairs) have extra wings branching out. Pinnules are simple and have no teeth on the edges.
Sori are brown, long and aligned to the edges
The young ferns are light green and can have pink edges.
NIce, … and thanks for following up on what … told us..
good for future photography . I just came across my photo of a really heavy infection of the ascomycete fungus, Taphrina laurenciana, which produces small leaf-like galls in compound Pteris species in N.E. and S. India in high rainfall areas. As it causes much confusion, I thought it might be of general interest.
The poor old Pteris under attack is P. aspericaulis (CRFJ 26152, Field no. 2130), from N. of Pokhara, Nepal. Fortunately there is no Taphrina humanifestans in existence despite al the modern horror-films that seem to like the idea!
Please show the label as well. .
Another fern from east India, march 2024: 4 images. I continue the exploration of my pictures of ferns from India.
Here we are in the Eaglenest sanctuary at an altitude of around 2000m.
If I’m not wrong in the ids of Christopher, it should be Pteris aspericaulis but all the pictures of this species I find seems quite different so I’m quite puzzled. Yes, P. aspericaulis. Pictures of “P. aspericaulis” usually include all sorts of different species roughly similar to the whole aspericaulis aggregate and even other groups, so it depends what pictures one has been looking at. |