Sticherus hypoleucus (Sodiro) Copeland (1947: 28)

Gleichenia hypoleuca Sodiro (1883: 8) . Type: — ECUADOR. Pichincha, Sodiro.n. (lectotype SI!, designated by Moran (1995: 60), isolectotype K!).

Gleichenia lehmannii Hieronymus (1905: 562) . Dicranopteris lehmannii (Hieron.) Maxon (1930: 83) . Sticherus lehmannii (Hieron.) Nakai (1950: 21) . Type: — COLOMBIA. Popayán, Lehmann 6963 (holotype expected to be at B but not located, isotype US!).

Gleichenia nitidula Rosenstock (1912: 275) . Dicranopteris nitidula (Rosenst.) Suess. ex Losch (1950: 24) . Sticherus nitidulus (Rosenst.) Copeland (1947: 28). Type: — COSTA RICA. Alajuela: San Carlos-Buena Vista, Brade 503 ( holotype S!, isotypes UC!, US!) .

Distribution and ecology: —Mountains of Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru; perhaps also in Guyana. Commonly found at (500–) 800–2500 m in montane forests on sandy or rocky surfaces, and along roadbanks. It grows solitarily or in small colonies.

Notes: —Some specimens from Guyana (Cuyuni-Mazaruni, Pakaraima Mts., 5°23’N, 59°58’W, 1500– 1650 m, 1 November, 1992, Heckel 77, NY, US) and Colombia (Chocó, Bolívar–Quibdo hwy., 5°40’N, 76°30’W, Km 134.5, 1070 m, 13 April 1983, Juncosa 931, MO, US) are similar to S. hypoleucus, but have scaly abaxial branch surfaces and whitish, forked midvein scales. Forked midvein scales are found only in S. strictissimus, and it is conceivable that these atypical specimens are hybrids between S. hypoleucus and S. strictissimus .

Østergaard & Øllgaard (2001) considered that a specimen from Ecuador (Morona-Santiago: Road Susana de Chiviasa–Panecillo, Km 3–4 (NE of Limón), 1300 m, Øllgaard & Navarrete 2699, AAU) may be a hybrid between S. hypoleucus and S. remotus based on its morphological intermediacy between these species.