Asplenium alatum Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.

  • Authority

    Morton, Conrad V. & Lellinger, David B. 1966. The Polypodiaceae subfamily Asplenioideae in Venezuela. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 15: 1-49.

  • Family

    Aspleniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Asplenium alatum Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.

  • Description

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    Species Description - Rhizome erect, terrestrial; fronds fasciculate, few (usually 4-8), usually 30-40 cm long, the stipes thick, broadly green-winged almost to base, the blades simply pinnate, the rhachis broadly green-winged (the wing more than 1 mm wide on either side), extended at apex into a short linear segment, this with a bud at apex; pinnae mostly 16-21 pairs, horizontally spreading, obtuse or acute at apex, mostly broadly obtuse and subequal at base, exauriculate or with an inconspicuous superior auricle, biserrate, the teeth low, mostly 11-14 on the upper margin; veins once- or twice-forked; sori inframedial; indusia linear, green, narrow, thin, entire.

    Distribution and Ecology - amaica and Hispaniola; Veracruz, Mexico, south to Bolivia and Brazil. Apparently rare in Venezuela, and known only from the states of Sucre, Monagas, Anzoategui, Distrito Federal, and Aragua.

  • Discussion

    Type. “Nova Andalusia, regione temperata, prope Caripe et in declivitate montis Cocollar usque ad alt. 500 hexap.”11 [Venezuela] (holotype B, Willd. Herb. 19889, photographed by Tryon, US) .

    Normally this is a stiffly erect terrestrial species of dense forests and shady banks, although a few collections are reported to have been epiphytic (which may have been faulty recollections by the collectors). The short linear apex bears a bud which is capable of becoming rooted and producing new plants but does not normally do so. It thus resembles somewhat the simply pinnate, radicant forms of A. radicans, but it lacks the long, whiplike, filiform apex of that, and it may be further distinguished by the green-winged stipe and rhachis.