Elaphoglossum neglectum F.B.Matos & R.C.Moran, 2023

Kessler, Michael, Smith, Alan R., Øllgaard, Benjamin, Matos, Fernando B. & Moran, Robbin C., 2023, Prodromus of a fern flora of Bolivia. XLII. Update I., Phytotaxa 630 (3), pp. 183-210 : 188

Elaphoglossum neglectum F.B.Matos & R.C.Moran , sp. nov. ( Figs. 2A–H , 3A ).

Type: — BOLIVIA. La Paz: Prov. Abel Iturralde, Parque Nacional Madidi , campamento de guardaparques Sadiri, camino Sadiri-Tumupasa, por la senda a las antenas de Entel, 14°10’S, 67°53’W, 990 m, 7 July 2004, I. Jiménez & H. Huaylla 2658 (holotype: LPB [sheet without number]; isotypes: GOET- 053791 , NY- 01402723 )

Diagnosis:— Resembling Elaphoglossum ambiguum Alston in leaf shape and size but differing by the presence of phyllopodia, conspicuous costal scales, free veins, and spiny perines.

Plants terrestrial or rarely epiphytic; rhizomes short-creeping, to 1.5 cm in diameter, densely scaly, the scales 2–6 × 0.3–1.3 mm, dark brown to black, lanceolate, with irregular marginal processes; phyllopodia 0.8–2.5 cm, blackish; leaves approximate, 28–85 × 3.5–8 cm; petioles 1⁄4–1/3 the sterile leaf length, 1–3.5 mm thick, stramineous to tan, microscales ca. 0.05 mm, brown to black, appressed, branched, sparse to abundant, often forming a scurf, scales 1–5 × 0.3–1.5 mm, brown to black, spreading, lanceolate, with irregular marginal processes, sparse, more abundant towards the petiole bases; blades 20–65 × 3.5–8 cm, 5–11 times longer than wide, narrowly elliptic or oblong, chartaceous, bases cuneate, apices acuminate, margins narrowly cartilaginous; veins evident, free, 1–1.5 mm apart, ca. 75° to costae, hydathodes lacking; blades on both sides with brown, lanceolate to irregularly divided, 0.5–1.5 mm long scales along the costae, grading into dissected to dotlike, brown to blackish microscales on the blade surfaces; fertile leaves to 55 cm long, about 3/4 the length of the sterile ones, petioles ca. 1⁄2 the fertile leaf length, blades oblong, bases broadly cuneate to truncate, apices acuminate; intersporangial scales lacking; perines non-perforate, spiny, with continuous folds.

Etymology:— The specific epithet is derived from the Latin neglectus, meaning neglected, ignored, overlooked, or passed over. It refers to the fact that this new species was overlooked by Kessler et al. (2018), who treated all of its specimens under E. ambiguum .

Range:— Endemic to Bolivia (CO, LP).

Ecology:— Rare; terrestrial or rarely epiphytic in humid montane Yungas forest; 650–1050 m.

Paratypes:— BOLIVIA. Cochabamba: Prov. Ayopaya, subiendo hacia la cima en dirección del sub campamento, 16°02’S, 66°39’W, 1054 m, 24 September 2004, H. Huaylla 1394 ( NY, UC). La Paz: Prov. Abel Iturralde, Parque Nacional Madidi , campamento de guardaparques Sadiri, camino Sadiri-San José de Uchupiamonas , en la unión de los dos rios que forman el rio Yariapu, 14°10’S, 67°55’W, 640 m, 8 July 2004, I. Jiménez & H. Huaylla 2675 ( GOET, LPB, NY) ; ibid., campamento de guardaparques Sadiri , subiendo a la cima del Sadiri, 14°10’S, 67°54’W, 1000 m, 9 July 2004, I. Jiménez & H. Huaylla 2702 ( LPB, NY) ; ibid., 1030 m, 9 July 2004, I. Jiménez & H. Huaylla 2708 ( LPB, NY) .

Notes:— Nearly all specimens of Elaphoglossum neglectum were treated as E. ambiguum by Kessler et al. (2018). In that publication, we designated a lectotype for E. ambiguum , classified it in sect. Elaphoglossum (based on its glabrous leaves), and considered it ranging from Costa Rica to Venezuela and Bolivia. One year later, however, Matos et al. (2019) revised many herbarium specimens from throughout the Neotropics and concluded that E. ambiguum does not occur in Bolivia, being restricted to the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Trinidad, Venezuela, and Colombia. Using plastid DNA data, they also discovered that E. ambiguum belongs to a clade of seven non-subulate species (i.e., species lacking subulate scales) within the subulate-scaled clade of E. sect. Polytrichia .

Elaphoglossum neglectum differs from E. ambiguum and its allies by the presence of conspicuous phyllopodia (vs. phyllopodia absent or indistinct), dark brown (vs. orangish to light brown) stem scales, free veins (vs. vein tips expanded laterally and often united to form a submarginal connecting vein), and spiny (vs. non-spiny) perines. In addition to E. ambiguum , some herbarium specimens of E. neglectum have also been previously identified as E. buchtienii , a species presumably endemic to Bolivia (CO, LP, SC). These two species belong to E. sect. Elaphoglossum and are similar by having dark brown stem scales, distinct phyllopodia, and glabrescent leaves with coriaceous, elliptic blades. They also have a narrow strand of cartilaginous tissue along the margins of their sterile blades (not to be confused with the submarginal connecting veins of E. ambiguum ). Elaphoglossum neglectum , however, greatly differs from E. buchtienii by stouter, short-creeping stems (vs. long-creeping), stem scales with many irregular marginal processes (vs. entire or nearly so), and non-perforate perines.

In the “Key to the Bolivian species of E. sect. Elaphoglossum ” (Kessler et al. 2018, p. 11), E. neglectum would replace E. ambiguum at couplet 8.

Figures

FIGURE 2. A–H. Elaphoglossum neglectum (Jiménez & Huaylla 2658, isotype, NY). A. Habit. B. Rhizome scales. C. Rhizome. D. Petiole. E. Sterile blade, abaxial surface. F. Sterile blade, adaxial surface. G. Costa, abaxial surface. H. Costa, adaxial surface. The dashed line indicates that the leaf apex is from another specimen (Jiménez & Huaylla 2675, NY).

FIGURE 3. Spores of A. Elaphoglossum neglectum (Jiménez & Huaylla 2658, isotype, NY) and B. Elaphoglossum buchtienii (Tate 838, NY). Scale bars = 10 µm.