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Lecanopteris crustacea

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Photo by Didi Turmudi, Indonesia
.


The hollow rhizomes. Didi Turmudi, Indonesia.

Author: Edwin Bingham Copeland, 1931
Family:  POLYPODIACEAE
Origin:  Borneo, Malaya, Sumatra; Indonesia, Thailand
Soil:  Bark, Moss
Water:  Maximum
Sun:  Minimum - Medium
Thickness:  3 Centimetres
Height:  35 Centimetres
Flower:  No: Brown Spores
Propagate:  Seeds/Rhizomes
Names:  -
Synonyms:  Might be: Phymatodes crustacea, Richard Eric Holttum, 1955.
Myrmecophila crustacea, Tagawa
Polypodium crustaceum, Hoshiz.

This member of the Polypodiaceae family was described by Edwin Bingham Copeland in 1931, and later by Richard Eric Holttum as Phymatodes crustacea. It is found Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. It grows in trees with some water and some sun. The hollow  rhizomes will grow up to three centimetres in diameter, and the leaves will grow up to 35 centimetres.

The genera name after some Lecan, but I fail to figure which one, or perhaps Greek lekane; 'bowl', and Latin pteris; 'fern'. The genera name Lecanopteris was introduced by Caspar Georg Reinwardt published in Flora 8, 1825. The species name from Latin crusta, meaning 'a hard (or brittle) shell or rind'.

Seen on IPNI as member of the Pteridophyta family.


The hollow rhizomes. Didi Turmudi, Indonesia.


A young plant. Photo by
Marc Altenloh.