Phlegmariurus crassus (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) B.Øllg., Phytotaxa

Øllgaard, Benjamin, Kessler, Michael & Smith, Alan R., 2018, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. II. Lycopodiaceae, Phytotaxa 334 (3), pp. 255-294 : 271

Phlegmariurus crassus (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) B.Øllg., Phytotaxa 57: 13. 2012. ( Fig. 13 )

= Lycopodium crassum Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd., Sp. Pl. , ed.4[Willdenow], 5: 50. 1810.

= Huperzia crassa (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) Rothm., Feddes Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 54: 60. 1944.

Range: — Costa Rica and Panama; Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia (LP). Collections from Mexico, Guatemala, and Hispaniola, earlier referred to this species, appear to belong to a different species.

Ecology: —Uncommon in humid puna and páramo grasslands; 3960–4350 m.

Notes: —As here conceived, Phlegmariurus crassus is a species complex with local variation in size and growth habit, some of which has been described at the variety level (e.g., Øllgaard 1988: 54). It is related to P. hypogaeus , and individuals of that species growing on a solid substrate (and therefore not producing the subterranean horizontal shoots that are otherwise characteristic for the species when it grows on a soft substrate) are hard to separate from slender individuals of P. crassus .

Phlegmariurus crassus is usually strongly red-tinged, and the abaxial epidermis of the leaves has many protruding, blister-like cells, possibly caused by regular frost.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Phlegmariurus crassus, growth habit (Beck 8445, AAU).