卤蕨科 lu jue ke
Dr. Dong Shiyong
Plants terrestrial in moist places. Rhizome stout, creeping, ascending or erect, scaly. Fronds dimorphic, or monomorphic but distal pinnae fertile only. Lamina 1-pinnate, firmly herbaceous, chartaceous, or coriaceous, glabrous on both surfaces; sterile pinnae lanceolate or tough-shaped to elongate-oblong, obtuse or acuminate at apex, entire at margin; fertile pinnae more or less contracted, linear to narrowly lanceolate. Veins anastomosing, visible on both surfaces, without included veinlets. Sori acrostichoid, sporangia covering the abaxial surface of pinnae except on costae and/or very near the costae and the margin; sori exindusiate, or somewhat covered by reflexed pinna margin, numerous trichomes presenting in sori.
Two genera and four species, pantropical distribution; one genus and two species in China.
1. ACROSTICHUM L., Sp. Pl. 2: 1067. 1753.
卤蕨属 lu jue shu
Terrestrial or in coastal swampy places. Rhizome stout, creeping or erect, scaly, dictyostelic with additional strands; scales large, broadly lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, entire. Fronds clustered or approximate, stipes stout, thick, glabrous; lamina 1-pinnate with distinct terminal pinnae; pinnae stalked, tongue-shaped to elongate-oblong, entire, obtuse to acuminate at apex, chartaceous to thick-coriaceous or fleshy; veins anastomosing, without included free veinlets. Fertile pinnae borne in the apical part of the lamina or on most or all of the fertile lamina, slightly contracted, evenly covered by sporangia. Spores tetrahedral-globose, perispores papillate to tuberculate, with rodlets or sparse strands. x = 30.
Three species: pantropical; two species in China.
1a. Sterile pinnae rounded, truncated, or retuse and shortly mucronate at apex ---------------------------------------------- 1. A. aureum
1b. Sterile pinnae narrowly acuminate at apex ------------- 2. A. speciosum
1. Acrostichum aureum L., Sp. Pl. 2: 1069. 1753
卤蕨 lu jue
Plant 1--2 m tall. Scales on rhizome dark brown to black, broadly lanceolate, 1--2 X 0.2--0.6 cm. Stipes 10--70 m long, 0.5--1 cm in diam., stramineous to pale castaneous, glabrous upwards. Lamina 40--50 X 20--40 cm, imparipinnate, thickly leathery, glabrous on both surfaces, lateral pinnae to 5-12 pairs; pinnae narrowly oblong, (10)15--35 X 1.8--5.5 cm, with stalks 0.5--1.5 cm long, cuneate to rounded at base, entire at cartilaginous margin, rounded to retuse and shortly mucronate at apex; costae flat or slightly grooved on adaxial surface and strongly raised on abaxial surface; veins raised on lower surface, hardly visible on upper surface, close, anastomosing. Fertile pinnae only on upper portion, like the sterile ones but slightly smaller. Sporangia scattered on whole of abaxial surface; paraphyses capitate, with lobed apical cells.
In coastal swamps, usually in mangrove swamps; near sea level to 100 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Yunnan [Cambodia, Japan (Ryukyu Islands), Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam; tropical Asia, Africa, America].
2. Acrostichum speciosum Willd., Sp. Pl. 5: 117. 1810.
尖叶卤蕨 jian ye lu jue
Plant 1-1.5 m tall. Scales on rhizome dark brown to black, broadly lanceolate, 1 X 0.2--0.3 cm. Stipes 30-40 m long, 0.3--0.5 cm in diam., stramineous, glabrous. Lamina 35--50 X 20--30 cm, imparipinnate, thickly leathery, glabrous on both surfaces, lateral pinnae to 5--8 pairs; pinnae lanceolate, (8)15--20 X 2--2.5 cm, with stalks 0.5—1 cm long, narrowly cuneate at base, entire at cartilaginous margin, narrowly acuminate at apex; costae flat or slightly grooved on adaxial surface and strongly raised on abaxial surface; veins raised on lower surface, hardly visible on upper surface, close, anastomosing. Fertile pinnae only on upper portion, like the sterile ones but somewhat abruptly attenuate and shortly caudated. Sporangia scattered on whole of abaxial surface; paraphyses capitate, with lobed apical cells.
In mangrove swamps; near sea level; Hainan (Wenchang) [Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam; tropical Asia, Australia].
List of Chinese names in Acrostichaceae
尖叶卤蕨 jian ye lu jue
卤蕨 lu jue
卤蕨科 lu jue ke
卤蕨属 lu jue shu