Additional notes on Pyrrosia calvata and Pyrrosia subfurfuracea

As an appendix to Evan’s article, here are the original botanical descriptions

of both the Pyrrosia he discusses.

Polypodium (Niphobolus) calvatum, Baker

Rhizome wide-creeping, ⅛–⅙ inch diameter, with a wrinkled brown membranous cuticle. Stipe 4–5 inches long, green, naked, with a tuft of lanceolate acuminate rusty-brown membranous scales at the base. Frond lanceolate, entire, rigid in texture, a foot

long, an inch broad, narrowed gradually from the middle to the base, bright green and naked on the upper surface, covered with a thin coat of deciduous drab tomentum beneath. Main veins fine, erecto-patent, distinct to the edge at a distance from each other of a quarter of an inch. Sori round, superficial, ½ lin. diameter [sic]✝, confined to the upper part of the frond, filling up the whole of the space between the midrib and margin. Allied to the Indian and Malayan P. stigmosum, Sw.

The entry was written by J. G.Baker in ‘Four New Ferns From South China’ and published in 1879 in the Journal of Botany, volume 17.

Polypodium (Niphobolus) subfurfuraceum, Hook

Caudex short branched creeping the younger branches paleaceous with ferruginous subulate scales, stipites subaggregated 4–5 inches long, fronds 24–30 inches long 4–5 inches wide broad-lanceolate and oblanceolate sharply acuminate below gradually and much attenuated upon the stipes glabrous above minutely stellato-tomentose beneath, the tomentum thin firm and close so as to appear subfurfuraceous or compactly pannose of a whitish colour, costa stout, costules evident but not elevated, venation

indistinct quite that of true Campyloneuron, the areoles from 15–20 in a series between the costa and the margin each with numerous included free soriferous veinlets, sori rather small most copious all over the back of the frond elevated subglobose (not in the least sunk) forming as many arched series between the costules as there are areoles.

This description by William Jackson Hooker is from Species Filicum published in 1864, volume 5.

From these descriptions alone, the most apparent difference is the width to length ratio and overall shape of the frond. However, judging by Evan’s picture, P. calvata as described above sounds quite a bit smaller. The dimensions of the P. subfurfuracea closely match the ‘collected in Kashmir’ fern.

Please see the glossary on next page to navigate some of the botany language contained in both of these descriptions.

† We believe this to be a typographical error for 1 ⁄ 12 inch. [Peter Blake &

Matthew Reeve]