Hymenophyllum ferax Bosch, Ned. Kruidk. Arch.

Kessler, Michael & Smith, Alan R., 2017, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. X. Hymenophyllaceae, Phytotaxa 328 (3), pp. 201-226 : 210

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/phytotaxa.328.3.1
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13722762
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/1D5B787C-FFA1-2651-1D8B-834AFA38FC65
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Hymenophyllum ferax Bosch, Ned. Kruidk. Arch.
status

Treatment

Hymenophyllum ferax Bosch, Ned. Kruidk. Arch. View in CoL 4: 392. 1859.

Range: —Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia (CO, LP).

Ecology: —Rare; epiphytic in humid forests; 2300–4000 m.

Notes: —This is a variable, problematic species, as treated herein, resembling large specimens of Hymenophyllum axillare , but the involucres are often slightly erose or denticulate. Blades may have one or more extremely long pinnae, thus appearing to have a forked rachis (as in H. undulatum ), but the segment margins are not undulate or slightly crisped, as in H. undulatum . Circumscription of this species is unclear, and it is also uncertain whether Bolivian elements are conspecific with specimens from Ecuador and Venezuela. Specimens from high elevations in Bolivia, 3300–4000 m, with the distal part of the rachis and pinna axes often somewhat zig-zag, may not be conspecific with those at lower elevations; these specimens are also very large, with pinnae to 10 cm long, and fronds to 50 cm long.