Alsophila sledgei (Ranil, Pushpakumara & Fraser-Jenk.) Ranil, 2021

Rajapaksha, Ranil, 2021, Six new combinations and one new natural hybrid of ferns from Sri Lanka, Phytotaxa 511 (2), pp. 183-186 : 184

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/phytotaxa.511.2.6
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5486583
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/038587EB-FFE5-5551-18B8-4224433FFD1A
treatment provided by	Marcus
scientific name	Alsophila sledgei (Ranil, Pushpakumara & Fraser-Jenk.) Ranil
status	comb. nov.

Treatment

2. Alsophila sledgei (Ranil, Pushpakumara & Fraser-Jenk.) Ranil View in CoL , comb. nov.

Basionym: Cyathea sledgei Ranil, Pushpakumara & Fraser-Jenk. (2010: 319) View in CoL .

Type:— SRI LANKA, Sabaragamuwa Province, Ratnapura District, Sinharaja forest , 380 m, R. H. G . Ranil 314, 28 July 2008 (holotype PDA 314 View Materials A!, isotypes PDA 314 View Materials B!, 314 C!) .

Distribution:— Sri Lanka (endemic).

Note:—This species was originally mentioned by Sledge (1982) as a putative hybrid between Alsophila sinuata (Hook. & Grev.) R.M.Tryon and Alsophila hookeri (Thwaites) R.M.Tryon considering its intermediate morphology. Later Ranil et al., (2010a) described it as a species after conducting a comprehensive investigation. All three species are endemic to Sri Lanka and confined to restricted populations in southern lowland rainforests. Alsophila sledgei is an extremely rare and critically endangered species confined to small populations in Kanneliya Man and Biosphere Reserve and Sinharaja World Heritage site.

References

Abbreviations

R	Departamento de Geologia, Universidad de Chile
H	University of Helsinki
G	Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève
A	Harvard University - Arnold Arboretum
B	Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Zentraleinrichtung der Freien Universitaet
C	University of Copenhagen