| English Name | Spiny Tree-fern |
|---|---|
| Status in China | Vulnerable (VU). Wild plant under State protection (category II). Recorded in China Plant Red Data Book and Illustrations of Rare & endangered plant in Guangdong Province. |
Description:
Tree-ferns, trunk erect up to 6 m tall. Leaves crowded near apex of the trunk, spirally arranged; stipes dark brown, with sharp spines; lamina large, oblong, tripinnate; pinnae 17-20 pairs, alternate, longest one to 60 cm long, the basal one reduced; rachis short-spiny; pinnules 18-20 pairs, sessile or nearly so, lanceolate, to 10 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, divided almost to the costa; segments more or less falcate, toothed. Soriborne near the costule, indusium spherical, membranous.
Distribution:
Hong Kong Island, Lantau, Tai Mo Shan. Hainan, Taiwan, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan. Xizang; Nepal, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Japan.
Habitat and Ecology:
On sunny places in valleys or by streams, occasionally also on margins of forests and in thickets.
It is an attractive tree-fern with high ornamental value. Trunks are used as medium for orchid cultivation. The species is under threats outside Hong Kong because of destruction of habitats and over-collection. In Hong Kong, most of the localities of its occurrence are in Country Parks under protection. This species is also protected by the Forestry Regulations (Cap. 96 sub. leg.) and the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586). AFCD had conducted ex-situ conservation and living specimens are displayed in the Shing Mun Arboretum.
References:
傅立國，1992: 中國植物紅皮書1:10。 科學出版社，北京。
Edie, H.H., 1977: Ferns of Hong Kong, 88. Hong Kong Univ. Press, Hong Kong.
So, M.L., 1994: Hong Kong Ferns, 47. The Urban Council, Hong Kong.
