Astrolepis sinuata (Lag. ex Sw.) D.M.Benham & Windham

Authority

Mickel, John T. & Smith, Alan R. 2004. The pteridophytes of Mexico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 88: 1-1054.

Family

Pteridaceae

Scientific Name

Astrolepis sinuata (Lag. ex Sw.) D.M.Benham & Windham

Description

Species Description - Rhizomes short, stout, compact, horizontal; rhizome scales 5– 9 x 0.1 mm at bases, castaneous, often brown- to black-centered with age, linear, ciliate-denticulate, sinuous; fronds clumped, to 72(–100) cm long; stipes less than 1/4 the frond length, stout, terete, castaneous, densely clothed with white linear-lanceolate to deeply dissected-ciliolate scales; blades linear, pinnatepinnatifid; pinnae (14–)25–42 pairs, short-stalked to 3 mm, articulate, coriaceous, oblong, lobed ca. halfway to costae, each with 4–6 pairs of acute lobes; largest pinnae (near middle of blade) 12–20 x 6–10 mm, basal lobes with small basiscopic lobules; adaxial surfaces sparsely clothed with white, ciliolate to finely dissected substellate scales 0.5 mm long, the scale body 2–3 cells wide; abaxial surfaces densely clothed with white to reddish brown, linear-lanceolate, ciliolate scales overlying a dense tomentum of finely dissected hair-like scales and numerous short red-brown glandular hairs less than 0.1 mm; 2n=58 (USA); n=2n=87 (Jal, Zac, USA).

Discussion

Acrostichum sinuatum Lag. ex Sw., Syn. Fil. 14. 1806. Notholaena sinuata (Lag. ex Sw.) Kaulf., Enum. Filic. 135. 1824. Gymnogramma sinuata (Sw.) C. Presl, Suppl. Tent. Pterid. 219. 1836. Cheilanthes sinuata (Lag. ex Sw.) Domin, Biblioth. Bot. 20(85): 133. 1913. Type. Peru. Lagasca s.n. (MA or S).

Notholaena chalcolepis A. Braun ex Kunze, Linnaea 13: 135. 1839. Type. Mexico. 1827, Karwinski s.n. (B; isotype P!).

Notholaena sinuata (Lag. ex Sw.) Kaulf. var. pinnatifida Farw., Amer. Midl. Naturalist 12: 283. 1931. Type. U.S.A. New Mexico: October 1880, Rusby s.n. (isotype NY!).

Notholaena sinuata (Lag. ex Sw.) Kaulf. var. robusta Hevly, J. Arizona Acad. Sci. 3: 208. 1965. Type. Mexico. Michoaca´n: Zita´cuaro, Hinton et al. 13265 (ARIZ; isotypes NY!-2 sheets).

Astrolepis sinuata subsp. mexicana D. M. Benham, Amer. Fern J. 82: 59. 1992. Type. U.S.A. Texas: Jeff Davis Co., Davis Mountains, Little Aguja canyon, D. M. Benham 1331 (ASC; isotype UC!).

The inconspicuous dense glandular hairs of Astrolepis sinuata s.str., as well as the persistent, short, substellate scales of the adaxial pinna surfaces, distinguish this widespread species from the eglandular A. laevis, A. integerrima, and A. crassifolia. Specimens with very sparse glandular hairs may represent hybrids with these other three taxa (although parentage of the putative hybrids is unclear). Benham and Windham (in FNA Ed. Comm., 1993) distinguished subsp. mexicana (western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, Mexico, and Central America) from subsp. sinuata in having 64 rather than 32 spores per sporangium, and averaging 37–44 µm rather than 50–65; these are here treated as cytotypes. A very large specimen from Guerrero (Fonseca & Vela´zquez 2475, MEXU, FCME, NY) reaches 1 m in length, and the pinnae are deeply cut and with 7 pairs of lobes.

Distribution

Exposed limestone rocks and slopes, subdeciduous forests, granite boulders, thorn scrub, oak forests, crevices in lava; (400–)1450–2700 m. Sw USA; Mexico; Guat, Hond, Pan, Hisp, PR; Col, Ven, Ec, Peru, Bol, Parag, Arg.

Mexico North America| Argentina South America| Paraguay South America| Bolivia South America| Peru South America| Amazonas Ecuador South America| Venezuela South America| Colombia South America| Puerto Rico South America| West Indies| Panama Central America| Honduras Central America| Guatemala Central America| United States of America North America|