3. Dryopteris kuratae Nakaiki ex Hoshiz. & K.A. Wilson, sp. nov. —TYPE: Japan, cultivated in Tokyo, originally from Kagoshima Pref., Mt. Takakuma, Osumi Peninsula, 25 July 1959, S. Kurata s.n. (TNS #146476; photo Nakaike, New Fl. Jap. Pterid. 430.1992).—Fig. 4.

Planta D. pycnopteroidi (Christ) C. Chr. similis, sed paleis stipitis et rachidis brunneis usque atro-brunneis, marginibus pinnarum 1/3 ad 1/2 ad costam lobatis, apicibus loborum plerumque obtusis et obliquis, sinubus inter lobos plerumque V-formibus, soris plerumque ad apices loborum absentibus et tantum aliquando juxta costam praesentibus differt.

Rhizome erect, producing offshoots. Stipe moderately scaly, the stipe and rachis scales mostly brown to blackish brown, narrow triangular to lanceolate, acuminate, irregularly toothed; blade pinnate, oblanceolate, ca. 50 cm long, 15 cm wide, narrowed at base, pinnae linear-triangular, margins mostly lobed 1/3—1/2 way to the costa, the apex of the lobe obtuse, oblique, bearing 1—3 teeth on the distal side, the sinuses between the lobes mostly V-shaped, the lobes spreading. Sori generally absent from the apical area of the lobe and only occasionally present next to the costa; indusia small.

Dryopteris kuratae apparently is a diploid, apogamous fern (Kurata and Nakaike, 1985) native to eastern Asia. Fraser-Jenkins (pers. com.) raises the possibility that D. kuratae may be the same as D. hangchowensis Ching, but this has not been resolved. Until recently, D. kuratae was called D. pycnopteroides by Japanese botanists, but this is a larger species with fronds up to 110 cm long, the sori more costal, and the rachis more densely scaly with only brown or paler scales. True D. pycnopteroides is from western China, and although reported to be cultivated, the plants examined thus far are D. kuratae. Dryopteris pycnopteroides and D. kuratae are confused with D. dickinsii (Franch. & Sav.) C. Chr. which lacks sori next to the costa. Although D. dickinsii is cultivated in Australia, it has not been found in U.S. cultivation. This complex is in need of more study.

Garden plants reach ca. 60 cm in height with many spreading fronds. This species is hardy to a January average of 30°F and slowly becomes deciduous in southern California, where it grows well. It is easily cultivated.