Taxonomy of ferns and fern allies at Phuhin Rongkla National Park, Phitsanulok Province

Abstract

Taxonomy of ferns and fern allies at Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park, Phitsanulok Province, was conducted from March 2001 to July 2002. Two hundreds and seventeen specimens were collected. A total of 23 families, 55 genera, 112 species and 2 varieties were identified. Among these 21 families, 53 genera, 108 species and 2 varieties are ferns, while 2 families, 2 genera and 4 species are fern allies. Three families of ferns, namely Polypodiaceae, Aspleniaceae and Dryopteridaceae are among the common families. Polypodiaceae included 26 species, while Aspleniaceae and Dryopteridaceae included 15 and 9 species, respectively. According to habitat, it is found that there are 44 species and 1 variety of terrestrial plants, 34 species and 1 variety of epiphytes, and 16 species of lithophytes. In addition, 18 species of ferns and fern allies could be found in more than one habitat. It can be concluded that two endemic species of Thailand occur in the study area, i.e. Diplazium siamense C. Chr. and Christella siamensis Tagawa & K. Iwats. It is also found that Acrorumohra diffracta (Baker) H. It. is a new recorded species for Thailand. It is rather rare and can be found only in small populations along the forest trail to Man Daeng Waterfall. Key to the genera and the species were constructed. Full description, together with ecological data, distribution, vernacular name and utilization of each species were prepared. In addition, photographs of the collected species were also provided. The voucher specimens are deposited at the Professor Kasin Suvatabhandhu Herbarium, Department of botany, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University and the Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department.