1.3. Dicksonia karsteniana var. spruceana (Kuhn) Lehnert, comb. et stat. nov.

Dicksonia spruceana Kuhn, Linnaea 36: 153. 1869.

TYPE: PERU. San Martin: Near Tarapoto, Mte. Campana, [ca. 06°07’S, 76°40’W] 1855–1856, R. Spruce 472 8 (lectotype B!, inadvertently designated by Tryon 1989: 105, isolectoypes A-00020971 [image], BM-000586133!/- 000097860!, GH-00020972!, K-000006839!/– 00006840!/– 00006841!, LD-1763634!/- 1763698![image], P-01414987![image]).

Trunks to 4(–6) m tall, skirt of dead fronds weakly developed; petioles with dark reddish brown setiform hairs well developed, paler (white or orange) woolly undercoat weakly developed; hairs adaxially on frond axes dark red-brown to blackish, antrorsely curved, ± appressed, petioles and lower rachises abaxially covered with matted white hairs when young, soon glabrescent, no remnants of cobwebby hairs in the axils, upper rachises, costae, costules, and midvein abaxially with few to many spreading hairs, reddish, soft, to 3 mm long, leaving a smooth to faintly scabrous surface when abraded, sparse to absent elsewhere; sori ± 1.5 mm diam. Figures 1H, 5C.

Distribution and Habitat —Found on the eastern Andean slopes of Ecuador and Peru, expected farther north (Colombia) and south (Bolivia). Present in lower mountain rainforests at (1400–) 1800–2000 m, usually in small numbers under a dense canopy, in deep ravines or sinkholes that are notably cooler than the surroundings (Fig. 6).

Additional Specimens Examined — Ecuador.— ZAMORA-CHINCHIPE: Estación Cientifica San Francisco, 03°58’S, 79°04’W, 1820 m, Sep 2008, N. Cumbicus, J. Homeier, E. Jaramillo, B. Medina 4113 (STU), 5 Oct 2003, M. Lehnert 957 (GOET, UC), 2000–2010 m, 21 Sep 2010, M. Lehnert 1877 (QCA, STU). Peru. — HUÁNUCO: SW slope of the R´ıo Llullapichis watershed, on the ascent of Cerros del Sira, shallow valley just beyond Camp 4 (Peligroso), 09°25’S 074°44’W, 1540 m 25 Jul 1969, T.R. Dudley 13254 (MO). — SAN MARTIN: Huallaga, Saposa, alrededores de la Canaan, 2000 m, 28 Aug 2001, V. Quipuscoa, M. V´ılchez T., D. Anazco ~ B2630 (UC).