Wedelia trilobata (L Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 13(2): 173-175, 2006 (December) - Short communication ALEURITOPTERIS GRISEA (BLANFORD) PANIGRAHI : A NEW PTERIDOPHYTIC RECORD FOR BANGLADESH MOMTAZ MAHAL MIRZA1, MUHAMMAD NUR-E-ALAM SIDDIQUEE2 AND REZINA AHMED3 Bangladesh National Herbarium Chiriakhana Road, Mirpur-1, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh Key words: Aleuritopteris grisea, New record, Bangladesh While collecting plants from Bandarban District, for the taxonomic study of the Flora of Bangladesh, a pteridophytic specimen was collected from the shady hill slope. The specimen was critically examined and tried to match with herbarium specimens housed at the Bangladesh National Herbarium, but could not be matched with any of them. After consulting various literature, the specimen was identified as Aleuritopteris grisea (Blanford) Panigrahi of the family Sinopteridaceae. It was further confirmed by the revisionary work of this genus done by Ghosh et al. (2004) from India. Aleuritopteris grisea was not recorded from Bangladesh by earlier workers viz., Prain (1903), Sinclair (1956), Mirza and Rahman (1997) and Dixit (1984). It was not found in Kew collections made from Bangladesh by Wallich (Mirza 1999), Hooker and Thomson (Mirza et al. 2000), and Clarke (Mirza 2000). Previously another species of the genus Aleuritopteris albo-marginata (Clarke) Ching was recorded by Pasha and Chakraborty (1984) from Chittagong. The differences between A. grisea and A. albomarginata are: (1) A. albomarginata is a spreading herb, whereas A. grisea is a tufted herb with dimorphic frond; (2) Sterile stipe is hairy in A. albomarginata, but in A. grisea hairy only on the adaxial side of the stipe; (3) Fertile stipe of A. albomarginata is hairy, but fertile stipe of A. grisea is smooth and black; and (4) Sori are continuous and not powdery mass in A. albomarginata, whereas sori are discontinuous and powdery mass in A. grisea. The dissimilarities reveals that A. albomarginata and A. grisea are two different species. The genus Aleuritopteris is widely distributed in the Eastern and Western Himalayas: Sikkim, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar Thailand, China, Taiwan and Japan with about 25 species (Copeland 1985, Ghosh et al. 2004), and only two species are so far known to occur in Bangladesh. Aleuritopteris albo- marginata and A. grisea, both the species are popularly known as silver ferns: the former grows on moist shaded rocks, but the latter grows terrestrially on clay or humus soil in ravines or on stream banks, and damp walls. 1Corresponding author. 2Institute of Education and Research, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh. 3Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh Project, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, 5 Old Secretariat Road (Nimtali), Ramna, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh. 174 MIRZA et al. A detailed taxonomic study of A. grisea based upon the specimen collected from Bandarban, is appended below. The material is preserved at the Bangladesh National Herbarium (DACB). Aleuritopteris grisea (Blanford) Panigrahi in Bull. Bot. Surv. Ind. 2 (2&4): 321 (1960). Pichi-Sermolli, Ind. Fil. 4 : 8(1965) (Plate 1) Synonyms: Cheilanthes grisea Blanford, Simla Nat. Hist. Soc. (1886); Hope, J. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc. 13: 251 (1900); Cheilanthes farinosa var. grisea Blanford, J. Asiat. Soc. 57: Part 2(4): 302 (1888). Plate 1. Aleuritopteris grisea (Blanford) Panigrahi (a) habit (×0.75), (b) fertile frond showing the arrangement of the sori (×1.125). ALEURITOPTERIS GRISEA (BLANFORD) PANIGRAHI 175 A small tufted herb. Rhizome erect, up to 2.5 cm thick, short, densely scaly, scales 4 cm long and 0.5 mm broad, lanceolate, dark at the centre, pale brown at the periphery. Stipe tufted, up to 14 cm long, purplish brown, round, scaly at the very base, densely hairy on the adaxial side throughout. Fronds slightly dimorphic; sterile fronds slightly longer than fertile ones. Lamina bipinnatifid, up to 10 cm long, pinnae deltoid-lanceolate, 5-8 pairs, upper part pinnatifid, subcoriaceous, under surface covered with white powder. Fertile fronds smaller than sterile fronds. Stipe smooth, black. Venation free, completely hidden. Sori linear, borne on the edge of the margin, which are discontinuous. Specimen examined: Bandarban : Roangchari, 15.11.2005, Muhammad Nur-E-Alam and Rezina Ahmed (DACB). Ecology: A terrestrial fern grows on the hill slope. Distribution: India and China. References Copeland, E.B. 1985. Genera Filicum. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, 23-A Connought Place, Dehradun, India. pp. 67-68. Dixit, R.D. 1984. A Census of the Indian Pteridophytes. Botanical Survey of India, Delhi, 177 pp. Ghosh, S.R., Ghosh, B., Biswas, A. and Ghosh, R.K. 2004. The Pteridophytic Flora of Eastern India. Bot. Survey of India, Kolkata, 591 pp. Mirza, M.M. 1999. An index to Wallich’s Collection of ferns and fern-allies from Bangladesh. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 6(2): 85-89. Mirza, M.M. 2000. An enumeration of C.B. Clarke’s Pteridophytic Collections from Bangladesh at Kew. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 7(2): 9-20. Mirza, M.M. and Rahman, M.M. 1997. An annotated check list of ferns and fern-allies of Bangladesh. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 4(2): 47-69. Mirza, M.M., Rashid, S.H. and Hossain, A.B.M.E. 2000. An enumeration of Hooker and Thomson’s Pteridophytic Collections from Bangladesh Territory preserved at Kew. Bangladesh J. Life Sci. 12(1& 2): 23-34. Pasha, M.K. and Chakraborty, R. 1984. Ferns of Bangladesh 11. Pteridaceae. Chittagong University Studies, Part 2, 6: 71-85. Prain, D. 1903. Bengal Plants. 2: 1237-1270. Indian Reprint 1981. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun, India. Sinclair, J. 1956. Flora of Cox’s Bazar, East Pakistan. Bull. Bot. Soc. Beng. 9(2): 114-115. (Manuscript received on 19 September 2006; revised on 28 November 2006) ALEURITOPTERIS GRISEA (BLANFORD) PANIGRAHI : A NEW PTERIDOPHYTIC RECORD FOR BANGLADESH MOMTAZ MAHAL MIRZA1, MUHAMMAD NUR-E-ALAM SIDDIQUEE2 AND REZ Bangladesh National Herbarium Chiriakhana Road, Mirpur-1, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh