Macrothelypteris torresiana (Gaud.) Ching, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 8(4): 310 1963. (syn: Aspidium leucopis Fée; Aspidium mollissimum Christ; Aspidium setigerum (Bl.) Kuhn; Aspidium tenericaule (Wall. ex Hook.) Thwait.; Aspidium uliginosum Kunze; Aspidium vile Racib.; Cheilanthes setigera Bl.; Cheilanthes stenophylla Kunze; Dryopteris alsophiloides (Fourn.) C. Chr.; Dryopteris backeri Alderw.; Dryopteris mollissima (Christ) C. Chr.; Dryopteris oligophlebia var. lasiocarpa (Hayata) Nakai; Dryopteris oligophlebia var. lophaea Ogata; Dryopteris setigera (Bl.) O. Kuntze; Dryopteris setigera var. pallida Alderw.; Dryopteris tenericaulis (Wall. ex Hook.) Ching; Dryopteris trichodes (Houlst. & Moore) Rosenst.; Dryopteris uliginosa (Kunze) C. Chr.; Filix setigera (Bl.) Farw.; Hypolepis javanica Moore; Hypolepis setigera (Bl.) Hook.; Hypolepis stenophylla (Kunze) Moore; Hypolepis trichodes (Houlst. & Moore) Fée; Lastrea cosmopolita Brade; Lastrea flaccida Bedd.; Lastrea oligophlebia var. lasiocarpa (Hayata) H. Itô ex M. Mizush.; Lastrea setigera (Bl.) Bedd.; Lastrea setigera (Bl.) Moore; Lastrea tenericaulis (Wall. ex Hook.) Moore; Lastrea torresiana (Gaud.) T. Moore; Macrothelypteris setigera (Bl.) Ching; Macrothelypteris torresiana; Nephrodium setigerum(Bl.) Hook. & Bak.; Nephrodium tenericaule (Wall. ex Hook.) Hook.; Phegopteris alsophiloides Fourn.; Phegopteris trichodes (Houlst. & Moore) J. Sm.; Polypodium balansae Bak.; Polypodium nemorale Brack.; Polypodium pallidum Bull.; Polypodium russelianum Wall.; Polypodium tenericaule Wall. ex Hook.; Polypodium trichodes Houlst. & Moore; Polystichum torresianum Gaud.; Thelypteris lasiocarpa Hayata; Thelypteris oligophlebia var. lasiocarpa (Hayata) H. Itô; Thelypteris setigera (Bl.) Ching; Thelypteris torresiana (Gaud.) Alston; Thelypteris uliginosa (Kunze) Ching);
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W. Indian Ocean, Tropical & Subtropical Asia to N. & E. Australia as per POWO;
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Australia (N-Western Australia, E-Queensland, NE-New South Wales), South Africa (I) (KwaZulu-Natal (I), E-Cape Prov. (I), W-Cape Prov. (I)), Mauritius, La Runion, Seychelles, Comoros (Mayotte), Madagascar, New Zealand (N-North Isl.), Kermadec Isl., Norfolk Isl., Hawaii (I) (Kauai (I), Oahu (I), Maui (I), Hawaii Isl. (I)), New Caledonia, Southern Marianas (Guam, Rota Isl., Saipan), Northern Marianas (Pagan, Alamagan, Sarigan, Anatahan), Wallis & Futuna (Futuna Isl., Wallis Isl.), Rotuma Isl., Palau Isl. (Angaur), Micronesia (Pohnpei, Kosrae), Fiji (Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Ovalau), Rotuma Isl., Tonga (Late Isl., ‘Eua, Tofua), Western Samoa (Upolu), Cook Isl. (Rarotonga), American Samoa (Tutuila, Ofu, Ta’u), Society Isl. (Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea), Austral Isl. (Raivavae), Vanuatu, China (Anhui, Chongqing, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang), Tibet, Taiwan, Japan, Ryukyu Isl., India (Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam State, Bihar, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal), Myanmar [Burma], Vietnam, Nepal, Bhutan, Sumatra (incl. Krakatau), Java, Lesser Sunda Isl. (Lombok, Flores, Timor, Bali, Sumba), SW-Sulawesi, Borneo (Mt. Kinabalu, etc.), Bangladesh, Thailand, Laos, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Palawan, Moluccas (Seram, Ambon, Ternate), Solomon Isl. (Guadalcanal, Kolombangara, Malaita), New Guinea, Mexico (I) (Chiapas (I), Veracruz (I), Oaxaca (I), Mexico State (I), Morelos (I), Queretaro (I), Tabasco (I)), Guatemala (I), Tamaulipas (I), Guatemala (I), Honduras (I), El Salvador (I), Nicaragua (I), Costa Rica (I), Panama (I), Colombia (I), Venezuela(I) (Aragua (I), Barinas (I), Carabobo (I), Distrito Federal (I), Falcon (I), Guarico (I), Lara (I), Merida (I), Miranda (I), Monagas (I), Nueva Esparta (I), Portuguesa (I), Sucre (I), Tachira (I), Trujillo (I), Yaracuy (I), Zulia (I)), Ecuador (I), Peru (I), Bolivia (I), Paraguay (I), N-Argentina (I), St. Vincent (I), Grenada (I), Puerto Rico (I), Cuba (I), Jamaica (I), Bahamas (I), NE-Brazil (I) (Bahia (I), Alagoas (I)), WC-Brazil (I) (Mato Grosso (I), Goias (I), Distrito Federal (I), Mato Grosso do Sul (I)), SE-Brazil (I) (Minas Gerais (I), Espirito Santo (I), Sao Paulo (I), Rio de Janeiro (I)), S-Brazil (I) (Parana (I), Santa Catarina (I)), Uruguay (I), Trinidad (I), USA (I) (Alabama (I), Arkansas (I), Florida (I), Georgia (I), Louisiana (I), Mississippi (I), South Carolina (I), Texas (I)) as per Catalogue of Life;
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identification, please find the attached photos for ID.
This is the common weedy and often adventive species, Thelypteris (Section Macrothelypteris) torresiana. It is all over warmer parts of Asia and even up into the Himalaya – its spores spred through people walking along paths and by rocky streams etc. In open places it is often associated with Pityrogramma calomelanos.
P.S. I assumed it would be recorded from the Andamans, but I just checked Indian Checklist 1 and see either I missed it or it might not have been collected (or mentioned) from there, again. Check Dixit & Sinha and the various Balakrishnan and Totatri papers, or Chandra (2000) – though that is a highly inaccurate book (and check Holttum’s monographs of Pronephrium and Macrothelypteris, plus Flora Maelesiana Thelypteridaceae) for both T. nudata and T. torresiana. If not mentioned for A. & N., then it probably slipped people’s attention – as nearly all modern collectors there do not know the fern species, so only collect at random.
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References: POWO Catalogue of Life The Plant List Ver.1.1 Tropicos IPNI
