Davallia pectinata J.E. Smith, 1793
Description
Rhizome without the scales 1.4-2.6 mm in diametre, white waxy under the scales (D. pectinata Rhizome). Scales red-brown, with pale border from base to apex, narrowed evenly towards the apex, not or seldom curling backward, bearing multiseptate hairs at least when young, peltate, 5 mm long by 1.1-1.5 mm broad. Stipes pale or dark brown, adaxially grooved, 5-18 cm long, glabrous or with few scales. Lamina simple (D. pectinata Habitus), one pectinate or pinnatifid leaf, narrowly ovate, elongate, often narrowing towards base, bearing multicellular hairs or glabrous, 4-21 cm long by 2.5-8 cm broad, not or slightly dimorphous. Longest pinnae 1.5-3.2 cm long by 0.3-0.5 cm broad. False veins not present. Sori separate at the forking point of veins or at the bending point of a vein. Indusium attached at the broad base and hardly or not at the sides, semicircular, wider than long or about as wide as long, 0.6-0.8 mm long by 0.6-1 mm broad, upper margin not elongated, truncate or slightly rounded, separated from or even with lamina margin (D. pectinata SEM, picture of indusia). In some collections, for instance Brass 13301 from New Guinea, the type of Humata archboldii Copeland, and Posthumus s.n. from Java, the scales are not hairy, and have no white margin.
Distribution
Continental Asia: India (Nicobar Islands 1 coll.); China (Taiwan, Orchid Island 1 coll.); Cambodia (1 coll.); Thailand (Southern? 2 coll.).
Malesia: Sumatra (many coll.); Malay Peninsula (Langkawi Islands 1 coll., Kelantan 1 coll., Pahang 1 coll., Malacca 1 coll., Johore 1 coll.), Singapore (2 coll.); Anambas Islands (1 coll.); Western Java (3 coll.), Borneo (Sarawak, Bako 2 coll., Brunei 1 coll., Sabah, Lahad Datu, Semporna, Tawao, 3 coll., Kalimantan Barat 1 coll., Kalimantan Selatan 2 coll., Kalimantan Timur 11 coll.); Philippines (throughout but quite rare); Sulawesi (Central 6 coll., Northern 1 coll.); Moluccas (Ambon 3 coll., Seram 2 coll., Talaud Islands 1 coll., Tanimbar Islands 1 coll., Aru Islands, Kobroor 3 coll., Ternate 1 coll.); Papua New Guinea incl. Bismarck Archipelago (many coll.).
Australia: Northern Queensland (14° S, 143° 3' E 1 coll.).
Pacific: Carolines (Truk Islands 1 coll., Ponape 1 coll.); Solomon Islands (6 coll.); Vanuatu (5 coll.); New Caledonia (Balade 1 coll., Col d'Amos 1 coll.); Samoa (5 coll.); Cook Islands (Rarotonga, Mangaia, 4 coll.); Austral Islands (Ruruta 5 coll.); Society Islands (many coll.).
Ecology
Epiphytic, epilithic, or sometimes terrestrial, on sand, lava, or limestone.