Pteris grandifolia L.

  • Authority

    Proctor, George R. 1989. Ferns of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 53: 1-389.

  • Family

    Pteridaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Pteris grandifolia L.

  • Description

    Deprecated: mb_convert_encoding(): Handling HTML entities via mbstring is deprecated; use htmlspecialchars, htmlentities, or mb_encode_numericentity/mb_decode_numericentity instead in /home/emu/nybgweb/www-dev/htdocs/science-dev/wp-content/themes/nybgscience/lib/VHMonographsDetails.php on line 179

    Species Description - Rhizome stout, woody, creeping, bearing numerous thin, pale reddish-brown, lance-attenuate scales 2-4 mm long. Fronds more or less erect, close or apart, 1-3 m long; stipes stout (to 1 cm diam.), shorter than the blades, straw-colored, terete, glabrous but with a few linear scales near the base. Blades narrowly oblong, 1-2 m long, 35-75 cm broad; rhachis deeply grooved adaxially, essentially glabrous; pinnae 10-20 pairs, 2-6 cm apart, narrowly oblong-linear to linear-ligulate from a roundish or broadly cuneate base, the larger ones 15-38 cm long, 1.5- 5 cm broad, sessile or the lower ones short-stalked, the apex somewhat attenuate, the margins entire and narrowly cartilaginous; tissue membranoherbaceous, translucent, with veins mostly 1 -forked below the middle, freely reticulate beyond (in sterile pinnae only), the free tips enlarged. Indusium translucent, subentire to minutely erose.

    Distribution and Ecology - General Distribution. Rorida, Greater and Lesser Antilles, Trinidad, and continental tropical America from Mexico to Pem. Distribution in Puerto Rico. Found only in the northwestem and westem parts ofthe island; recorded from Aguada, Aguadilla, Camuy, Isabela, Lares, Mayaguez, Quebradillas, Utuado, and Vega Alta. Habitat. Moist thickets, banks, and seeping slopes at low to middle elevations (sea-level-300 m), locally frequent.

  • Discussion

    Lectotype. Plumier, Traite foug. Amer., t. 105, which was based on material from between Leogane and Petit Goave, Haiti.

    Syn. Litobrochia grandifolia (Linnaeus) J. Smith, J. (Hooker) 4: 163. 1841. Heterophlebium grandifolium (Linnaeus) Fee, Mem foug. 5: 140, t. Il-A,figs. 9-12. 1852.