Paragymnopteris vestita MD 12-31

A very charming lithophyte from our collection in China where it clad the upper portion of an appliance-sized boulder in the shade of an open broadleaf evergreen forest. This evergreen to semi-evergreen fern has leaflets so soft they rival the downy belly of a baby chinchilla - pure conjecture but accurate. There was heavy usage from grazing in the area this was found and there were examples of Lithocarpus being felled by keeping a fire burning at the base of the trees. The grazing benefited Rhododendron spinuliferum however, which turned these gangly shrubs into perfect dense, upright specimens that Peter Cox said were the best he had ever seen.