Sticherus nigropaleaceus (J.W.Sturm) Prado & Lellinger (1996: 98)

Gonzales, Jasivia & Kessler, Michael, 2011, A synopsis of the Neotropical species of Sticherus (Gleicheniaceae), with descriptions of nine new species, Phytotaxa 31, pp. 1-54 : 38-39

Sticherus nigropaleaceus (J.W.Sturm) Prado & Lellinger (1996: 98)

Mertensia nigropaleacea Sturm (1840: 222) . Gleichenia bifida (Willd.) Spreng. var. nigropaleacea (J.W.Sturm) Rosenstock (1906: 60). Sticherus longipinnatus (Hook.) Ching var. nigropaleaceus (J.W.Sturm) Nakai (1950: 22) .

Type:— BRAZIL. Espíritu Santo: inter Vittoria et Bahia, Sellow s.n. (lectotype B!, photos SP, US!, selected by Prado & Lellinger (1996: 98), isolectotype P!, photos SP, US!) .

Distribution and ecology:— Fairly common in humid forests at 300–800 m in southeastern Brazil, with isolated, outlying populations in Amazonian (Amazonas) and southwestern Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul) as well as at 2500–2750 m in Bolivia (La Paz). This peculiar geographical distribution pattern is also found in other unrelated taxa, e.g., the cactus Rhipsalis cereuscula Haworth (1830: 112) ( Ibisch et al. 2000), and the bird genus Phibalura Vieillot (1816: 31) ( Snow 1982) .

Notes: — Sticherus nigropaleaceus is very similar to S. interjectus , and the only important difference between them is the pattern of cell darkening on the bud scales and on the margins and abaxial surfaces of the branches. In S. nigropaleaceus the cell darkening proceeds from the scale apex towards the base, whereas in S. interjectus the process starts from the scale base. Both taxa may have mainly completely dark scales, but close examination will always reveal some scales that are bicolorous and allow deduction of the direction of scale darkening. Also, Sticherus nigropaleaceus has somewhat less markedly revolute segment margins than S. interjectus . Prado & Lellinger (1996) further compared S. nigropaleaceus to S. brevipubis and S. remotus , but in our opinion, these relationships are not very close.