Family

Blechnaceae

Nomenclature

Blechnum finlaysonianum Wall. ex Hook. & Grev., Icon. Filic.: t. 225. 1831; Bedd., Handb. Ferns Brit. India: 132. 1883; Holttum, Rev. Fl. Malaya ed. 1, 2: 445, f. 261. 1955 [‘1954’]; Tagawa & K.Iwats., Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 23: 55. 1968; Tagawa & K.Iwats., Fl. Thailand 3: 346. 1988; Tagawa & K.Iwats., Fl. Thailand 3: 298, f. 24.1 & 24.2. 1988; Boonkerd & Pollawatn, Pterid. Thailand: 180. 2000. – Type: Wallich Cat. No. 2172, "Herb. Finlayson", Penang? (E, fragment).

Description

Terrestrial. Rhizome thick, ascending or suberect, densely covered with scales; scales c. 2 cm long, up to 2 mm broad, dark brown. Stipes stout, stramineous, or sometimes purplish when young, up to 70 cm long, bearing small auricles (reduced pinnae) throughout, scales at base of stipe stiff, shining dark-brown, up to 2.3 cm by 2.5 mm. Laminae to 100 cm or more long; lateral pinnae many in number, lowest pinnae sessile, narrowly cuneate at base, upper pinnae adnate and decurrent at the base, up to about 40 by 4 cm, rather suddenly narrowed to a short acuminate apex, papyraceous; veins simple or forked usually near costa, distinct on both surfaces, very close, up to 1 mm apart; coriaceous, green, glabrous throughout. Sori narrow, long-continuous along costa; indusia narrow, usually broken before maturity.

Distribution in Thailand

PENINSULAR: Yala, Narathiwat.

Wider Distribution

Throughout Malesia, from Peninsular Malaysia to New Guinea.

Ecology

In shade along large streams at about 440 m alt.

Proposed IUCN Conservation Assessment

Least Concern (LC). This species is widespread in other parts of its range and not under any known threats.