Amauropelta rudis (Kunze) Pic.Serm., Webbia

Smith, Alan R. & Kessler, Michael, 2017, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. XXX. Thelypteridaceae, Phytotaxa 331 (1), pp. 1-34 : 16

Amauropelta rudis (Kunze) Pic.Serm., Webbia 31: 251. 1977.

= Dryopteris rusbyi C.Chr., Smithsonian Misc. Coll. (New Series) 5: 390. 1909.

= Dryopteris rusbyi C.Chr. var. major Rosenst., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 25: 59. 1928.

= Thelypteris rudis (Kunze) Proctor, Bull. Inst. Jamaica, Sci. Ser. 5: 64. 1953.

Range:— Greater Antilles; mountains from Mexico to Guyana and Bolivia (CO, LP, SC, TA).

Ecology:— Very common, over 80 collections seen from Bolivia; terrestrial in humid forests, somewhat weedy, especially along road banks and trails, and in secondary growth; (900–)1300–2700(–3200) m.

Notes: —A central species of a difficult complex, involving Amauropelta brausei , A. caucaensis , A. euchlora , A. piloshispida , and several extralimital species that are all variable in pubescence, scales, and blade size. See A. brausei for additional comments. Some specimens of A. rudis have the costal and rachis hairs of A. brausei (very long, relatively few, perpendicular), but most specimens have some hooked hairs between the veins abaxially, often best seen below sinuses: Fuentes & Mendoza 10233 (UC); Fuentes et al. 10598, 10772 (UC); all from Prov. La Paz.