Volume 3 > Part 2 > Year 1989 > Page 193–194 > Parkeriaceae > Pityrogramma

Pityrogramma calomelanos (L.) Linkwfo-0001107385

Handbuch 3: 20. 1833; Tardieu & C.Chr. in Fl. Indo-Chine 7(2): 189. f. 22, 3–4. 1940; Holttum, Rev. Fl. Malaya 2: 593. f. 348. 1955; Dansk Bot. Ark 20: 33. 1961; 23: 243. 1965; Tagawa & K.Iwats., S.E. Asian Stud. 3(3): 88. 1965; 5: 109. 1967; Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 23: 56. 1968.— Acrostichum calomelanos L., Sp. Pl.: 1072. 1753.— Pellaea calomelanos (L.) Link, Fil. Spec.: 61. 1841; Bedd., Handb. Ferns Brit. India: 104. 1883.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Rhizome short, erect, bearing a tuft of fronds, covered with scales; scales bright brown, narrow, 3–6 mm long, thin, entire. Stipe up to 30 cm long, dark purple, polished, scaly on lower part, glabrous upwards, covered with white powder in young stage. Lamina oblong, with acuminate apex, bipinnate-tripinnatifid, 15–30 by 8–15 cm; rachis grooved on upper surface; lateral pinnae gradually smaller upwards; lower ones stalked, linear-subtriangular, acuminate to long-tailed at apex, up to 10 by 2.5 cm; pinna-rachis slender, grooved; grooves decurrent to those on rachis; pinnules oblong to oblong-lanceolate, cuneate at base, acute to acuminate at apex, lobed or pinnatisect in larger ones, up to 1.5 by 1 cm; lobes oblanceolate to spatulate, acute and dentate at apical portion, herbaceous, light green, glabrous but coated with white waxy powder; veins free, pinnate in larger ones, to several times forked. Sporangia placed along veins throughout the lower surface, without any protection.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai (Wang Tao); Mae Hong Son (Mae Sariang); Tak (Ban Musoe); SOUTH-EASTERN: Trat (Ko Chang); SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi (Wangka, Bang Kasi); PENINSULAR: Nakhon Si Thammarat (Khao Luang, Wat Khiriwong) Narathiwat (Bacho Falls), Yala (Bukit, Betong, Bannang Sata), Phangnga (Khao Katha Khwam), Trang (Khao Chong), Satun (Khuan Kalong).

Distribution : Pantropics (type from America), this may have been spread to the palaeotropics by man.

Ecology : On open mountain slopes in recently felled areas or along new roads at low or medium altitudes.

Vernacular : Foen ngoen (เฟินเงิน), Foen thong (เฟินทอง).

Uses: Often cultivated as an ornamental.

Notes: The white powdery covering of the lower surface of fronds is a distinct feature of this species. It is cultivated widely as silver fern and the Asiatic plants are usually considered as those naturalized from cultivation.

E-version notes : For more details see Ferns of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.