Phlegmariurus dichaeoides (Maxon) B. Øllgaard (2012b: 14)

Øllgaard, Benjamin & Testo, Weston, 2021, The Lycopodiaceae of Panamá, Phytotaxa 526 (1), pp. 1-66 : 17

0. Phlegmariurus dichaeoides (Maxon) B. Øllgaard (2012b: 14) . Fig. 6B

Lycopodium dichaeoides Maxon (1905: 231) .— Urostachys dichaeoides (Maxon) Nessel (1939: 252) .— Huperzia dichaeoides (Maxon) Holub (1985: 72) . Type:— GUATEMALA: Alta Verapaz, Alta Terra Pax, near Finca Sepacuité, 1902, Cook & Griggs 251 ( US holotype).

Plants slender, pendulous, at least to 60 cm long. Shoots heterophyllous, in the basal divisions, to 25–35 cm from the base, 12–17 mm in diameter including the wide, expanded leaves, then abruptly constricted to 1–2 mm in diameter including the imbricate, reduced leaves of the 10 (–16) cm long sporangiate, terminal divisions. Stems excluding leaves ca. 1 mm thick, tapering to ca. 0.5 mm, pale greenish, to 7 times dichotomous. Expanded leaves uniform in shape, size, and position throughout, in 4 regular ranks, decussate, nearly continuously overlapping throughout (pressed specimens), diverging 65°–90° from the stem, the leaf pairs 2–3 mm apart, leaves elliptic to oblong (rarely suborbicular), widest in the middle or just below, 6–9 × 3–4 mm, with mucronulate apex and flat to slightly revolute margins, the vein obscure above, evident but not prominent below, the lamina usually twisted to a vertical position. Leaves of apical constricted divisions decussate, all, or almost all, sporangiate, appressed and clasping with their bases, ovate to triangular-ovate, short-to long-cuspidate, somewhat involute, sharply carinate, at least in the apex, 1.2–1.5 (–2.7) × 1 (–1.3) mm, equalling the sporangia, or to 1.5 times longer, the distance between leaf pairs 0.5–1 (–2.5) mm. Sporangia 0.7–1 mm diam.

­­­ Distribution:— Guatemala to Panamá, Pacific slopes of the Andes of Colombia and Ecuador.

­­­ Habitats:— Epiphytic in lower, wet montane forest, 400–1700 m elev.

­­­ Notes:— Differs from Phlegmariurus aqualupianus by the widely elliptic, wide-spreading to nearly perpendicular, less continuously overlapping, and the short, less sharply angular constricted divisions with short-tipped imbricate leaves.

­­­ Specimens­­­examined:—Bocas­­­del­­­Toro:­­­ Changuinola, PILA, región Caribe, Punto 24, 1005 m, De Sedas et al. 909 (PMA). Chiriquí: Boquete, Fortuna Dam, 1200 m, van der Werff & Hardeveld 6547 (MO. Fortuna Dam, 1150 m, McPherson 7263, 7875 (MO). Reserva Forestal Fortuna, división continental, 1215 m, Martínez & Garcia 1227 (PMA). Fortuna Dam area, along trail to Río Hornito Station, just S of Quebrada Nelson, 1100–1200 m, Luteyn et al. 15316 (PMA). NE of Campamento Fortuna (Hornito), 1000–1200 m, Correa et al. 2498 (PMA). SW of Campamento Fortuna (Hornito), dam site SW of Finca Pittí, 1270 m, Correa et al. 2564 (PMA). Cerro Colorado, ca. 50 km N of San Félix, 1300 m, Dressler 5123 (phpto PMA). Coclé: Alto Calvario, New Works, 650 m, Folsom 3416 (MO). 7 km N of El Cope, 700–850 m, Folsom 5240 (MO). Llano Grande–Coclesito road, above Cascajal, 500 m, McPherson 7977 (MO). La Mesa, 4 km N of El Valle, 875 m, Nee & Hale 9652 (MO). Colón: Westernmost part of province, site of proposed copper mine (INMET), 50 m, McPherson & Serein 20949 (MO, PMA, US). Darien: Cerro Pirre, 800–1200 m, Folsom 4195 (MO). Ridgetop area N of Cerro Pirre, 1200–1400 m, Folsom et al. 6291 (MO). Summit of Cerro Pirre, 1000–1400 m, Gentry & Clewell 6973 (NY). Cana, 1675 m, Williams 911 (NY p.p.). Road Rancho Mojado—Rancho Plástico, Polanco 613 (PMA). Alturas de Nique, 1100–1200 m, Hartman 12417 (MO). Ca 6 km S from gold mining camp at Cana W toward Alturas de Nique, 1500 m, Lellinger 1978 (US). Serrania de Pirre, headwaters of Río Escucho Ruido, ca 14 km N of Alto de Nique, 1550 m, Croat 37934 (MO). Cerro de Garará, Sambú basin, southern Darien, 900 m, Pittier 5632 (US). Serranía de Pirre, along headwaters of Río Escucho Ruido, ca. 16 km due north of Alto de Nique. Lower montane rain forest, 1530–1550 m, Croat 37934 (MO). Herrera Los­­­Santos: El Corteso—Tonosí, 1000 m, Rivera 404 (PMA, US). Panamá: Cerro Campana, 800 m, Allen 3967 (MO, US). Torti–Pilota del Toro, Folsom, et al. 5048 (MO). Rancho Chorro, mts above Torti Arriba, Canazas Mts., 400–700 m, Folsom et al. 6696 (MO). Campana, Valdespino & Correa 283 (PMA). Cerro Jefe, desviación 300 m antes de llegar a la torre, 500 m, Valdespino et al. 695 (PMA, US). Region of Cerro Jefe, Dressler 3071 (PMA). Veraguas: Cerro Tute, near Santa Fe, slopes up to 1220 m, Antonio, T. 1820 (MO). W of Santa Fé, 800–1200 m, Liesner 906 (MO). Cerro Tute, near Santa Fé, 1000 m, Sytsma & Antonio 3053 (MO). Dist. Santa Fé, Serrania de Tute, 1020–1450 m, Aranda et al. 2717 (PMA). E side of Cerro Tute, 1200 m, Witherspoon et al. 8857 (MO)