Family

Polypodiaceae

Nomenclature

Lecanopteris crustacea Copel., Univ. Cal. Publ. Bot. 12: 406. 1931; Hennipman & Hovenkamp, Fl. Males., Ser. II, Ferns and Fern Allies 3: 61. 1998; Boonkerd & Pollawatn, Pterid. Thailand: 272. 2000. – Phymatodes crustacea (Copel.) Holttum, Rev. Fl. Malaya ed. 1, 2: 190. 1955 [‘1954’]. – Myrmecophila crustacea (Copel.) Tagawa, Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 22: 190. 1967; Tagawa & K.Iwats., Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 24: 175. 1970; Tagawa & K.Iwats., Fl. Thailand 3: 535, f. 54.1 & 54.2. 1989. – Type: Burchard 158 (UC).

Description

Rhizome fleshy, swollen, hollow and ant-inhabited, 3–5 cm in thickness, scaly; scales circular, 2–3 mm diam., bi-coloured, clathrate. Fronds slightly dimorphic. Stipes 4–18(–28) cm long, scaly at base, glabrescent above. Laminae narrowly elliptic, 12–60 by 8–20 cm, pinnatifid; pinnae linear, up to 7 by 0.5 cm, broadest in apical portion, round at apex, subentire, decurrent at base and connected to the next by very narrow wings; papyraceous, glabrous; veins anastomosing, hardly visible. Sori large, oblong, up to 2 mm in length, in shallow hollow at each side of costae , raised on upper surface.

Distribution in Thailand

PENINSULAR: Ranong, Surat Thani.

Wider Distribution

Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo.

Ecology

Epiphytic on tree trunks or on rocks at low altitudes.

Proposed IUCN Conservation Assessment

Least Concern (LC). This species is widespread and not under any known threat.