Amauropelta subg. Venus S.E. Fawc.& A.R. Sm.

Fawcett, Susan & Smith, Alan R., 2021, A Generic Classification of the Thelypteridaceae, Fort Worth, Texas, USA: BRIT Press : 28

Amauropelta subg. Venus S.E. Fawc.& A.R. Sm. , subg. nov.

— TYPE: Amauropelta beddomei (Baker) Y.H.Chang [= Nephrodium beddomei Baker Syn.Fil. 267.1867]— Thelypteris beddomei (Baker) Ching

Etymology. —Taken from the Chinese common name for A. beddomei , Venus fern, 长根金星蕨 chang gen jin xing jue.

Diagnosis. —Plants of the Paleotropics to subtropics, with long-creeping rhizomes, frequently forming colonies, proximal pinnae gradually reduced, x = 31. Amauropelta beddomei from tropical regions tends to be much smaller and more delicate than their more northerly counterparts, and to have more multicellular hairs on the axes; however there seems to be some intergradation, especially in Southern China. The North American Amauropelta subg. Nibaa is most similar, but has colorless or yellowish glands, unlike the resinous orange-yellow, amber or reddish glands of subg. Venus. This subgenus is also similar to some species of Coryphopteris that have creeping rhizomes and resinous glands (e.g., C. nipponica ), but typically has more than three pairs of proximal pinnae gradually reduced (vs. three or fewer pairs).

Biogeography and ecology.— Amauropelta beddomei is widespread, perhaps representing a species complex, distributed in Sri Lanka, southern China, and throughout Malesia including New Guinea; it includes three varieties, var. beddomei, var. eugracilis , and var. brassii ( Holttum 1982) . We make no new varietal combinations at this time because of uncertainty in regard to their eventual rank. Plants from China frequently treated as Parathelypteris nipponica are most closely related to Amauropelta beddomei ( He & Zhang 2012; Fawcett et al. in press) and are not closely related to the Japanese type of P.nipponica , which is here treated in Coryphopteris . A second species, A. rechingeri , presumably closely allied to A. beddomei , is of lower elevations on the Solomon Islands ( Holttum 1977b).