Asplenium palmeri Maxon

  • Authority

    Mickel, John T. & Beitel, Joseph M. 1988. Pteridophyte Flora of Oaxaca, Mexico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 46: 1-580.

  • Family

    Aspleniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Asplenium palmeri Maxon

  • Description

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    Species Description - Rhizome erect; rhizome scales bicolorous, center occluded, black, margin narrow, brown, clathrate, linear-lanceolate, 4-5 mm long, 0.3-0.5 mm wide; fronds clumped; stipe 0.5-2 cm long, black to castaneous, lustrous, slightly winged; rachis terete, wiry, with scattered hairlike clathrate scales 1-1.5 mm long; blade 5-15 (-20) cm long, once-pinnate, linear-lanceolate, reduced to base, apex pinnatifid or with rachis extended as proliferous tip; rachis black to dark brown, lustrous, wings 0.1-0.3 mm wide; pinnae (15-)20-40 pairs, articulate, rachis color not extending onto pinna stalks, 3-7 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, oblong, crenate-serrate to serrate with sinuses 0.3-0.5 mm deep, obtuse, scarcely if at all auriculate, not deflexed, chartaceous, glabrous; veins evident, unforked, hydathodes lacking; sori 3-7 pairs per pinna; indusia 0.8-1 mm long, 0.3-0.5 mm wide, entire.

  • Discussion

    Type. Mexico. Jalisco: Shaded mountain nr. Etzatlán, 2 Oct 1903, Rose & Painter 7582 (US!). Asplenium trichomanes Linnaeus var. repens Davenport, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 13: 130. 1886. Type. Mexico. Nr. Chihuahua, wet ledges, rocky hills, Oct [1885], Pringle [444] (GH; isotypes NY! -3 sheets, US!). Closely related to Asplenium monanthes, A. palmeri is distinguishable from all the lustrous, dark-stiped Aspleniums (except A. heterochroum and A. resiliens) by the lack of conspicuous hydathodes. This taxon differs from A. resiliens and A. heterochroum in many features, the most conspicuous being the proliferous tip present on many of the fronds, and its totally different aspect, fully justifying its status as a distinct species. Growing at elevations as high as A. resiliens, A. palmeri is characterized by smaller, thinner pinnae with distinctly serrate margins and delicate, arching fronds with opposite pinnae (which are not deflexed). Resembling the more northerly A. trichomanes, A. palmeri differs in having larger more erect fronds and larger, thicker, strongly deflexed (at least at the base) pinnae of Asplenium resiliens.

  • Distribution

    Epipetric on steep hills; Centro, Coixtlahuaca, Huajuapan, Ixtlán, Miahuatlán, Tlacolula; 1550-1850(-2750) m. Mexico (Son, Chih, Coah, Dgo, Sin, Jal, Mex, DF, NL, SLP, Tam, Hgo, Ver, Oax); Guat, Bel; Ven to Ec.

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