Stenochlaena milnei
Content
Description
Scrambling, long creeping fern, or high climbing epiphyte with base rooted to the ground, fronds widely spaced, horizontal to pendulous with drooping pinnae.
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Bismarck Archipelago (Bismarck Archipelago present); Maluku (Maluku present); New Guinea present; Philippines (Philippines present), Ceram present, New Guinea apparently restricted to along the north coast present, Solomon Islands present
Malesia: Philippines, Moluccas (Ceram), New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago; the Solomon Islands (in New Guinea apparently restricted to along the north coast).
Notes
1. Resembling S. palustris but sterile pinnae always broadly rounded at base and articulation to rhachis not complete; stipe of large fronds containing a larger number of vascular strands; fertile pinnae c. 5 mm wide.
2. This species is closely related to S. palustris and has often been misidentified in the past. Stenochlaena milnei is a much more robust plant generally occurring in less swampy conditions than S. palustris. There are very few specimens that are not assignable to either of these species. The young leaves of this species do not appear to be eaten like S. palustris, but this may be a reflection of the relative abundance of the two species. Stenochlaena milnei is almost exactly intermediate between S. palustris and S. cumingii and may represent a hybrid. Cytological evidence is needed.
2. This species is closely related to S. palustris and has often been misidentified in the past. Stenochlaena milnei is a much more robust plant generally occurring in less swampy conditions than S. palustris. There are very few specimens that are not assignable to either of these species. The young leaves of this species do not appear to be eaten like S. palustris, but this may be a reflection of the relative abundance of the two species. Stenochlaena milnei is almost exactly intermediate between S. palustris and S. cumingii and may represent a hybrid. Cytological evidence is needed.