Selliguea montana (Sledge) Hovenkamp, Rev. Handb. Fl. Ceylon 15(Part B): 344–345 2006. (syn: Phymatodes montana (Sledge) Bir & DeviCrypsinus montanus SledgePhymatopsis montana (Sledge) ChingPhymatopteris montana (Sledge) Pic.Serm.Selliguea hastata subsp. montana (Sledge) Fraser-Jenk. & Ranil );
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S. India, Sri Lanka as per POWO;
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Kindly identify this fern. 

Habit: Herb 

Habitat: Wild, terrestrial, Montane forest fringe. 

Sighting: Mullaianagiri, Chikmagalur, Karnataka, about 1600 msl 

Date: 18-06-2015


Probably Crypsinus hastatus/ Selliguea hasata but difficult to identify by picture. The body plan is similar in many species of Crypsinus. like C. oxyloba of Himalaya, C. laciniata, C.scolopendra etc. 


I have seen the fern, you collected from Mullayagiri hills. Actually that is Phymatopteris genus. It looks like Phymatopteris strecheyii but i will confirm you the species name later. If you feel any query you may write me.


The pictures you sent of an epiphyte fern looks to be species of Phmatopteris! Can you send its fertile frond (leaf). On the back the fern bears sporangia, the fertile part. Please send for identity.


As per The Plant List Ver. 1.1, Selliguea hastata (Thunb.) H. Ohashi & K. Ohashi is the accepted name with Phymatopsis hastata (Thunb.) Kitag. ex H. Itô & Selliguea hastata (Thunb.) Fraser-Jenk. as syn.


As you may know, the genus Phymatopteris was rightly sunk into Selliguea (its type is a simple-leaved species without teeth or notches) and no longer pertains – its former species have either been placed all into Selliguea, or partly in Selliguea and partly in Pichisermollodes – it is a matter of personal preference which choice you make (I prefer the latter option). The Flora of China was seriously out of date on it and also politically tinged.
Selliguea oxyloba does not occur at all in South India – its only specimen from there was a report by Bir from Kodaikanal, but though the specimen is indeed oxyloba it is one of the number of specimens collected in the Himalaya and confusedly reported by Bir from Kodaikanal in his paper – as discovered by Father Manickam and later by me.
Your photo is presumably Selliguea montana, which is a good species, not the same as S. hastata as I thought previously. This species has tiny notches here and there in the marginal thickening, visible with a hand lens – unlike S. oxyloba, which is entire. Could you confirm that?  Both S. montana and S. oxyloba are immediately distinguishable from the other Indian species by their decurrent laminar bases at the base of the rachis/top of the stipe.
Several of the species mentioned by other respondents don’t occur in South India – one needs to be accurate in these matters and not just guess.


Yes, you can see the marginal notches – Selliguea montana.


 

 


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References:
POWO  The Plant List Ver.1.1  Tropicos  IPNI  

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