| English Name | Mules-foot Fern |
|---|---|
| Status in China | Least Concern (LC) |
Description:
Large herbs, to 3 m tall. Rhizome a short massive fleshy stock. Stipes stout, commonly to 100-150 cm long, sometimes longer. Leaves bipinnate, usually over 60 cm long and wide; pinnae 5-7 pairs, alternate, narrowly oblong; pinnules alternate, attached to the pinnae by short stalks, spread horizontally, lanceolate, apex acuminate, base more or less truncate or almost rounded, margin shallowly serrate, lower pinnules gradually reduced, basal one about 3 cm long, apical pinnule free, stipitate; veins simple or forked, prominent on both surfaces, without recurrent veins between the true veins. Sori oblong, attached along a vein about 0.5-1 mm from the edge, usually of about 8-10 sporangia.
Distribution:
Hong Kong Island and Tai Mo Shan. Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Fujian; Japan.
Habitat and Ecology:
Sheltered and moist places in valleys, under forests or by streams.
The species can be used as an ornamental plant for growing in sheltered and wet places. Outside Hong Kong, the species is under threats because of destruction of the habitats and over-collection by amateur horticulturists. In Hong Kong, most of the localities of its occurrence are in Country Parks under protection. The species is also listed under the Forestry Regulations (Cap. 96 sub. leg.). AFCD had conducted ex-situ conservation and living specimens are displayed in the Shing Mun Arboretum.
References:
秦仁昌，1959: 中國植物誌2: 57，圖版3：1-3。科學出版社，北京。
So, M.L., 1994: Hong Kong Ferns, 18. The Urban Council, Hong Kong.
