Elaphoglossum commutatum
Content
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Borneo present; New Guinea present; Sumatera (Sumatera present), Ceylon present, S. India present, W. Java present
Ceylon&S. India; in Malesia: Sumatra, W. Java, Borneo, New Guinea.
Notes
Thwaites 1310 from Ceylon is taken as type, as it is apparent that Kuhn's description was made chiefly from it. The Blume specimen cited is not a good one and the scales are mostly broken; in my opinion it represents a distinct species (E. recommutatum).
Below the decurrent base of the lamina of a frond, a distinct groove develops on each side of the median groove; these lateral grooves are on the lines of the decurrent edges of the lamina (v.A.v.R. described the stipe of E. permutatum as plurisul- cate).
I have wondered whether E. commutatum could be an ecologic form of E. callifolium, growing in unusually moist shady conditions. But the Malesian specimens here described agree so closely (except that fronds are somewhat larger) with those from Ceylon and S. India, where typical E. callifolium is lacking, that I think it right to maintain E. commutatum as a distinct species. Matthew, who knew E. callifolium well in the field, wrote a MS note on his Sumatran specimen of E. permutatum "a most distinct species, fully 500 feet below the level of E. callifolium".
Below the decurrent base of the lamina of a frond, a distinct groove develops on each side of the median groove; these lateral grooves are on the lines of the decurrent edges of the lamina (v.A.v.R. described the stipe of E. permutatum as plurisul- cate).
I have wondered whether E. commutatum could be an ecologic form of E. callifolium, growing in unusually moist shady conditions. But the Malesian specimens here described agree so closely (except that fronds are somewhat larger) with those from Ceylon and S. India, where typical E. callifolium is lacking, that I think it right to maintain E. commutatum as a distinct species. Matthew, who knew E. callifolium well in the field, wrote a MS note on his Sumatran specimen of E. permutatum "a most distinct species, fully 500 feet below the level of E. callifolium".