Phlebodium (R.Br.) J.Sm., J. Bot. (Hooker)

Smith, Alan R., Kessler, Michael, León, Blanca, Almeida, Thaís Elias, Jiménez-Pérez, Iván & Lehnert, Marcus, 2018, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. XL. Polypodiaceae, Phytotaxa 354 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

Phlebodium (R.Br.) J.Sm., J. Bot. (Hooker) 4: 58. 1841.

= Polypodium L. sect. Phlebodium R.Br.

This segregate of Polypodium is defined by the included veinlets running to each sorus within areoles that are paired (sometimes with additional included veinlets uniting beneath sori) and apically joined (vs. only one vein reaching each sorus in Polypodium , Serpocaulon , and other similar genera), creating areoles within areoles. It is also readily recognized by the thick, climbing rhizomes with dense, long-attenuate, orange to red-orange, concolorous, non-clathrate scales. Phlebodium is a neotropical genus of about four species, with two in Bolivia, and another in Mexico and Mesoamerica recently transferred to the genus ( Tejero et al. 2009). Phlebodium aureum and perhaps P. pseudoaureum are naturalized in several parts of the world, e.g., in Hawaii and southern California. These same two species are commonly cultivated.