Volume 3 > Part 2 > Year 1989 > Page 223 > Vittariaceae > Vittaria

1. Vittaria elongata Sw.wfo-0001111527

Syn. Fil.: 109, 302. 1806; Bedd., Handb. Ferns Brit. India: 404. f. 238. 1883; Christ, Bot. Tidsskr. 24: 104. 1901; Hosseus, Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 28(2): 366. 1911; C.Chr., Bot. Tidsskr. 32: 348. 1916; E.Smith, J. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl. 8: 7. 1929; Ching, Sinensia 1: 179. 1931; Tardieu & C.Chr. in Fl. Indo-Chine 7(2): 197. Seidenf., Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. 19: 87. 1958; Tagawa & K.Iwats., S.E. Asian Stud. 5: 111. 1967; Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 23: 56. 1968.

Accepted Name : Haplopteris elongata (Sw.) E.H.Crane
Syst. Bot. 22: 514. 1997 publ. 1998.

Description : Rhizome short-creeping, bearing fronds closely or up to 1 cm apart, 3–5 mm diam., very densely scaly throughout; scales linear, gradually narrowing from cordate base towards long-tailed apex, up to 1.2 cm or more long, 1 mm broad, greyish-brown to dark, distinctly clathrate, minutely toothed at margin. Stipe usually short, indistinct from the lower portion of frond, green to darker. Frond linear, variable in size, 0.5–2.3 cm broad, up to 60 cm or more long, gradually, narrowing towards both ends, coriaceous to leathery; costa usually distinct above on the lower portion; veins more or less visible, anastomosing to form a row of elongate oblique areoles at each side of midrib. Sori immersed in marginal two-lipped groove, usually along the whole margin of frond.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Ching Rai, Chiang Mai (Doi Chiang Dao), Tak, Phitsanulok (Thung Salaeng Luang); NORTH-EASTERN: Nong Khai, Loei (Phu Kradueng); EASTERN: Nakhon Ratchasima (Pak Thong Chai); CENTRAL: Nakhon Nayok (Khao Yai); SOUTH-EASTERN: Trat (Ko Chang); SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi (Wang Ka); PENINSULAR: Surat Thani (Ban Don, Ko Tao, Khun Thale, Ko Samui), Nakhon Si Thammarat (Khao Luang, Thung Song), Satun (Ko Tarutao), Narathiwat (Waeng), Yala (Khao Kalakhiri, Ban Chana, Bla Hat).

Distribution : Tropics of the Old World generally (type from 'India orientalis'), north to Sikkim, Hainan and southern edge of Japan.

Ecology : Pendulous on mossy tree-trunks in light shade to dense forests at low to medium altitudes.

Notes: This is another variable species. In Thailand this species is not very abundant, and rather variable in size and form of fronds, although at most 60 cm long and usually shorter than on the larger plants from other countries.

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