Some Lesser Known Ferns from the Western Himalayas, 1. Cheilanthes anceps var. brevifrons

Abstract

Nearly a century ago Blanford (1886) recognized two new species in the Cheilanthes farinosa (Forsk.) Kaulf. complex: C. anceps Blanf. and C. grisea Blanf. Later, Blanford (1888) reduced these species to varieties of C. farinosa. Hope (1901), Alston (1956), and Verma (1964) considered these taxa to be species. Panigrahi (1962) regarded the tetraploid occurring in Ceylon as Aleuritopteris anceps (Blanf.) Panigr. and the diploid as A. grisea (Blanf.) Panigr. Hope (1900, p. 250) apparently was the first to point out that C. anceps had two forms. His specimens, from near Simla in the western Himalayas, although collected at the same time as Blanford's, differed in being smaller, more delicate, and sometimes in having apparently concolorous rhizome scales. This led Hope to comment that his specimens seemed near to C. farinosa var. grisea (Blanf.) Blanf. These small specimens cannot be C. grisea, however, because that species has a naked rachis, always has concolorous, brown scales that are restricted to the stipe bases, and has a crenate or irregularly lobed indusial margin. Cheilanthes anceps, on the other hand, is characterized by its lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate fronds, scaly stipes and rachises, and lacerate indusial margins. Sufficient morphological and cytological differences occur between the two types of C. anceps to require their separation into varieties, but I hesitate to assign the rank of species to the two because of certain resemblances between them. In both, bicolorous scales are present on the stipe and rachis, the fronds are more or less lanceolate, and the indusial margin is always lacerate.