Dennstaedtia cornuta (Kaulf.) Mett., Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot.

Schwartsburd, Pedro B., Navarrete, Hugo, Smith, Alan R. & Kessler, Michael, 2017, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. XXVI. Dennstaedtiaceae, Phytotaxa 332 (3), pp. 251-268 : 254

Dennstaedtia cornuta (Kaulf.) Mett., Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. , sér. 5, 2: 260. 1864.

Range:— Mountains from Mexico to Venezuela and Bolivia (CO, LP, SC); southeastern Brazil.

Ecology:— Fairly common; terrestrial in humid forests; 900–2450 m.

Notes:— Tryon (1960) and Tryon & Tryon (1982) recognized D. cornuta (as D. dissecta ) and D. dissecta (as D. obtusifolia ) as closely related, but suggested that they might be a single variable species. The two species are clearly distinguishable by characters of the rhizomes and blades. The segment shape in young leaves of Dennstaedtia cornuta and D. dissecta is quite similar, and this was a reason for other authors to unite the two species; however, the differences in rhizomes (ascendant and stilt roots in D. cornuta ) are constant, and so are the soral features of mature leaves ( Navarrete & Øllgaard, 2000); these features are also useful in separating D. cornuta from D. obtusifolia .