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Arachniodes Blume (Dryopteridaceae)

East Indian holly fern

Etymology From the Greek, arachnion, spider's web + odes, perhaps in allusion to a fancied resemblance of one of the more finely dissected pentagonal species, to a spider's web.
Description Rhizome: long creeping, tan scales lanceolate.
Frond: evergreen, monomorphic.
Stipe: lanceolate scales, vascular bundles: 4 or more in an arc.
Blade: 2-pinnate-pinnatifid to 3-pinnate or more, deltate or pentagonal, papery to somewhat leathery, below: hairlike scales.
Pinnae: anadromous, proximal pinnae largest, with basal basiscopic pinnule much larger, costae shallowly grooved above, continuous from rachis to costae, segments margins spiny, ultimate segments frequently mucronate, veins free, forked.
Sori: round, between midrib and margin, indusium: reniform, attached at a sinus, sporangia: translucent.
Distinctive Characteristics Arachniodes shares the kidney-shaped indusia and grooves continuous from rachis to costae with Dryopteris (disputed in the Flora of Australia); it differs in an anadromic plan throughout whereas Dryopteris is catadromic above the basal pinna pair, and is said to have creeping rhizomes rather than erect ones, an unconvincing distinction, given a number of species with short-creeping rhizomes in Dryopteris. A mucronate, or bristle-like, terminus at the ends of veins is also present in Arachnoides, a feature shared with many Polystichum.
Arachniodes aristata
Arachniodes aristata.The kidney shape of the indusium mimics Dryopteris, the bristles at vein ends mimics Polystichum,
 M. Fagg at the Australian National Botanic Gardens
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