Leptochilus neolongipes Liang Zhang, X. M. Zhou, T. T. Luong & Li Bing Zhang, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Zhang, Liang
name: Lu, Ngan Thi
name: Zhou, Xin-Mao
name: Zhou, Zhuo
name: Thepkayson, Khamphanh
name: Luong, Thien Tam
name: Zhang, Li-Bing
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Polypodiopsida
Polypodiales
Polypodiaceae
Leptochilus
Leptochilus neolongipes

description: 8. Leptochilus neolongipes Liang Zhang, X.M. Zhou, T.T. Luong & Li Bing Zhang, sp. nov. (Fig. 10).
Type: VIETNAM. Lam Dong: Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park, behind Hòn Giao station, 1550–1650 m, besides rocks near stream, 19 October 2015, Li Bing Zhang, Xin-Mao Zhou & Thien Tam Luong, Minh Tri Dang & Bich Ha Duong 8596 (holotype MO!, isotype CDBI!).
Diagnosis: Leptochilus neolongipes is characterized by having medium size of plant, fronds 30–62 cm, petioles longer or nearly the same length as laminae, distal rachis broadly winged, wings gradually narrowed towards rachis base, lamina thickly chartaceous, and linear sori.
Plants perennial, evergreen. Rhizome creeping, ca. 3–5 mm in diam., dorsiventrally flattened, densely scaled, with many short roots; scales brown, clathrate, membranous, margins entire or sparely denticulate, appressed on rhizome or slightly spreading, 0.8–2.7 × 0.4–0.8 mm. Fronds monomorphic, 0.9 to 3.8 cm distant, 25–46(–62) cm long; petioles stramineous, 17–27 cm long, ca. 0.6–1.2 mm in diam. at middle, slightly winged at distal part; rachis distinctly winged, 3.0–9.0 mm wide at the distal part, 2.5–4.5 mm at base. Laminae oblong-ovate, deeply 1-pinnatifid, 8–20 × 16–30 cm, widest below middle of laminae, chartaceous, brown when dry, glabrous, margins of lobes entire. Lobes (1–)3–5 pairs, lanceolate, apex acuminate, 12–15 × 1.9–2.4 cm, basal portions of lobes obviously narrowed, ca. 1/3 to 1/4 as wide as middle portions, slightly ascending upward, midribs of lobes at angles of 55–73(–90) degree with rachis, distal pair of lobes slightly narrowed or the same length as lower pairs, opposite or slightly alternate, lobe base ca. 1.9–2.4 cm distant with each other. Midribs slightly raised, lateral veins invisible. Sori linear, (9–)16–19 on each side of midrib, 8–12 × 0.6–0.9 mm, centers ca. 3–6 mm apart from one another.
Distribution and habitat: Leptochilus neolongipes was discovered in three provinces in southern Vietnam, at elevations between 1300–1700 m. It typically grows on rock sides or near the base of tree trunks.
Etymology: From the Latin prefix, neo -, new, and the Latin epithet, longipes, referring to the similar morphology between the new species and Leptochilus longipes (Ching 1933: 332) X.C. Zhang (2012: 655).
Additional specimens examined: VIETNAM. Khánh Hòa Province: Hòn Bà Nature Reserve, trails along Hòn Bà forest station, 1540 m, 23 October 2015, Li Bing Zhang, Xinmao Zhou, Thien Tam Luong, Minh Tri Dang & Bich Ha Duong 8677 & 8727 (CDBI!); Hòn Bà Nature Reserve, stream behind Yersin's house, 1300–1400 m, 24 October 2015, Li Bing Zhang, Xinmao Zhou, Thien Tam Luong, Minh Tri Dang & Bich Ha Duong 8768 (CDBI!, MO!). Lam Dong Province: Da Lat, 20 June 2011, Cheng-Wei Chen Wade 1594 (TAIF!); Giang Ly, 1600–1700 m, 17 June 2013, Cheng-Wei Chen Wade 2615 (TAIF!); Giang Ly, 24 December 2014, Cheng-Wei Chen Wade 4102 (TAIF!).
Note: Leptochilus neolongipes is morphologically most similar to L. longipes. However, it differs the latter in having larger habit, fronds 30–72 cm long, and lobes 9–16 cm long. In contrast, L. longipes has fronds 15–30 cm long and lobes 5–8 cm long. Phylogenetically, the new species was resolved as isolated within the L. ellipticus clade, and its sister relationship with L. ornithopus T. Fujiwara & B.H. Quang (2023: 153–154) was not well supported (Fig. 1). Notably, a specimen with a smaller habit, Cheng-Wei Chen Wade3697 (TAIF), collected from Khanh Hoa, potentially represents an underdeveloped individual of this new species.
description: Published as part of Zhang, Liang, Lu, Ngan Thi, Zhou, Xin-Mao, Zhou, Zhuo, Thepkayson, Khamphanh, Luong, Thien Tam & Zhang, Li-Bing, 2024, Exploring the diversity of the Java fern genus Leptochilus (Polypodiaceae) in the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, pp. 213-235 in Phytotaxa 659 (3) on pages 227-228, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.659.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/13217894