Polypodium flagellare Christ, Bull. Herb. Boissier, 1896

Salino, Alexandre, Moura, Ingridy Oliveira & Sanín, David, 2019, Polypodium s. s. (Polypodiaceae) in Brazil, Phytotaxa 392 (2), pp. 157-162 : 158-161

Polypodium flagellare Christ, Bull. Herb. Boissier 4(10): 660. 1896.

Type: — COSTA RICA. Puntarenas: Plaines de Surubres au sud de Puntarenas, cotê du Pacifique, July 1890, P. Biolley 2671 (Holotype BR 697064!, image!; isotypes: CR, P00624573, image!) .

Goniophlebium patens J. Smith (1854: 230) . Type: — PANAMA. Panama: Hacienda Santa Rita, B. C. Seemann 25 (Holotype K000642075!). Fig. 1

Epiphytic; rhizomes short-creeping, 3.3–5.8mm diam., not pruinose, densely scaly, scales peltate, orangish or castaneous at the point of attachment, not clathrate, (3.5) 3.8–5.25 × (0.95) 1.1–1.60 (1.75) mm, lanceolate with filiform apex, margins entire to retrorsely denticulate; fronds monomorphic, erect to pendant, petioles sulcate adaxially, 6–9.5 cm long 0.75–1.95 mm diam., paleaceous, dull, and with very sparse catenate hairs of 2–3 cells and 0.05–0.2 mm long; laminae 17.5–29.5 cm long, 1-pinnate, ovate to oblong, apex conform to subconform with apical pinnae adnate with the pinnae just below; rachises paleaceous, dull, glabrous adaxially, abaxially with sparse catenate hairs like those of petioles; pinnae 6–7 pairs, subopposite to alternate, strongly ascending, adnate to the rachises, membranaceous, linear, bases totally adnate the rachises, apices acute to acuminate, margins entire to crenulate; costae paleaceous abaxially, dull, glabrous adaxially, abaxially with sparse catenate hairs like those of petioles; medial pinnae 6.5–15.5 × 0.8–1.5 cm; veins anastomosing and forming 1–2 rows of areoles between costae and margin; sori rounded, forming 1 row between costae and pinna margins; sporangia glabrous.

Specimens examined:— BRAZIL. Pará: Canaã dos Carajás, Serra Sul corpo C, 6º22’44”S, 50º22’38”W, 611 m, 16 February 2010, T.E. Almeida et al. 2219 ( BHCB) ; Canaã dos Carajás, Serra Sul corpo C, 6º20’41”S, 50º27’5”W, 677 m, 21 May 2010, D.T. Souza et al. 1129 ( BHCB) .

Additional specimens examined:— PANAMA. Panama: near Madden Dam and along Azote Caballo road near Alahuela , 90–100 m, 27 November 1934, C.W. Dodge 16567 (K) ; 1847, Jenman s.n. ( BM). Coclé: Valle de Antón and vicinity, 500–700 m, 23–27 July 1935, R.J. Seibert 457 (K) ; camino del Río Mata Ahogado , 03 July 1977, I. Fuentes 21 ( PMA) ; Herrera: Distrito de Las Minas, alrededores del Primer Ciclo de Chepo , 900 m, 19 September 1994, C. Galdames 1748 ( PMA) .

Distribution and habitat:— Moran (1995), Tejero-Díez & Pacheco (2004), Tejero-Díez (2005) and Luna-Vega et al. (2012) suggested that this is a rare endemic species of Central America ( Costa Rica and Panama); Almeida & Salino (2015) reported it in Brazil only from the Serra dos Carajás, an eastern Amazonian mountain range located in Pará State, where it is epiphytic in the canopy of rainforests between 600– 700 m.

Notes:— Polypodium flagellare can be easily recognized by the pendant leaves, adnate pinnae their width or slightly more to rachises, and one row of sori between costae and pinna margins. In both Brazilian specimens there are sparse, small catenate hairs, but these hairs are not reported in specimens from other regions. Affinities of P. flagellare as well as the relationships among Polypodium s.s. species are still uncertain ( Tejero-Díez 2005).

Polypodium kunzeanum C. Chr., Index Filicum 536. 1906. Polypodium cordatum Kunze (1834: 44) , nom. illeg., non Desv., 1827. Lectotype (designated here): — PERU. Peruvia subandina, Cassapi, August 1829, Poeppig s.n. (W0052623, image!, isolectotype BM fragment!). Fig. 2 .

Terrestrial; rhizomes short-creeping, 5.5–7.5 mm diam., not pruinose, densely scaly, scales peltate, not clathrate, orangish and brown at the point of attachment, 2–5.2 × 0.8–1.6 mm, lanceolate with acuminate to filiform apex, margins entire; fronds monomorphic, erect, petioles sulcate adaxially, 13.5–24.2 cm long × 2.7–5.4 mm diam., glabrous, reddish brown and bright; laminae 38–47 cm long, 1-pinnate, lanceolate to ovate, apex conform; rachises glabrous on both surfaces, reddish brown and shiny; pinnae (4–5) 10–11 (17) pairs, opposite to subopposite, ascending, clearly articulate at bases, membranaceous, linear, bases cordate and overlapping the rachises (except in apical ones), apices acuminate, margins entire; costae shiny, yellowish brown to reddish brown and glabrous on both surfaces; medial pinnae 11–16 (23) × 1.7–1.8 (2.5) cm; veins anastomosing and forming 2–3 areoles rows between costae and margin; sori rounded, forming 2–3 rows between costae and pinna margins; sporangia glabrous.

Specimens examined:— BRAZIL. Mato Grosso: Cupim prope Palmeiras, Cascata , ad terram umbrosam inter saxa rupesque, 20 December 1893, C.A.M. Lindman A2599 (BM, S) ; Itaúba, Resgate de Flora de UHE Colíder , lote G de supressão, 279 m, 13 May 2015, M.E. Engels 3834 ( RB) ; Pará: Redenção, Fazenda Bica d’água, 24 January 2003, M.R. Pietrobom 5556 ( RB) .

Additional specimens examined:— COLOMBIA. Magdalena: Santa Marta , July 1903, H.H. Smith 2564 (BM, K) . — PERU. Amazonas: Bongará, Prov. Shillac, north by trail from Pedro Ruíz , 2300 m, 05º49’S, 78º01’W, 31 August 1983, D.N. Smith & S. Vasquez 4945 ( USM) ; San Martin: “ In monte Campana prope Tarapoto ”, August 1856, R. Spruce 4772 (K, B) ; Province unknown: without locality, Mathews 1835 ( BM) .

Distribution and habitat:— Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru ( Lellinger 1989, Tejero-Díez 2005). In Brazil, this is known by only three collections from Mato Grosso and Pará States. This species is epiphytic ( Lellinger 1989), terrestrial, rupicolous and between rocks in shaded places.

Notes:— Polypodium kunzeanum is characterized by the articulate pinnae, with cordate bases overlapping the rachises (except for the apical ones). Polypodium kunzeanum was cited by Tryon and Stolze (1993) as synonym of P. sessilifolium Desvaux (1827: 238) [ Serpocaulon sessilifolium (Desv.) Smith (2006: 929) ], but Smith et al. (2006) stated that they are not closely related because P. kunzeanum has much less regular venation, non-adnate pinnae with cordate bases (the basal ones with lobes overlapping the rachis), and non-clathrate rhizome scales. This is the unique species of Polypodium in the Neotropics with articulate pinnae, a character observed in the Asian genus Goniophlebium ( Blume 1830: 132) Presl (1836: 185) ( Tejero-Díez 2005, Tejero-Díez et al., 2010). However, this species has not yet been included in any phylogenies to corroborate its placement.

Polypodium kunzeanum was recorded in Brazil by Lellinger (1989), Moran (1995), Tejero-Díez (2005), and Smith et al. (2006), but overlooked by Brazilian pteridologists and unnoticed by Assis & Almeida (2018) in the Flora of Brazil online. Lellinger (1989) and Moran (1995) stated that the type specimen of Polypodium cordatum was deposited at the LZ herbarium, where it was destroyed during WW II. However, according to taxonomic literature ( Stafleu & Cowan 1983), collections of Poeppig from Peru were deposited in W and not in LZ. We confirm this conclusion with the discovery of a collection of Polypodium cordatum ( Polypodium kunzeanum ) at W with label information matching the protologue of P. cordatum , except for the collection date, given as July 1829 in the protologue but August 1829 on the W specimen. For this reason, we lectotypify the species with a specimen at W.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Polypodium flagellare. A. Habit. B. Detail of the pinnae base, veins and sori. C. Rhizome scale. (All from T.E. Almeida et al. 2219, BHCB).

FIGURE 2. Polypodium kunzeanum. A. Habit. B. Detail of the pinnae base, veins and sori. C. Rhizome scale. (All from C.A.M. Lindman 2599, S).