Pteridium esculentum subsp. gryphus Schwartsb., 2017

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 : 264-265

Pteridium esculentum subsp. gryphus Schwartsb. , subsp. nov. ( Fig. 3A–C )

Pinnae and pinnules distally with free lobes between the segments, simple distal segments to 3(–4) cm long, veins abaxially sericeous, with lax hairs, laminar tissue between the veins abaxially with a farinaceous appearance, covered by gnarled hairs.

Type:— VENEZUELA. Aragua: “Prope Coloniam Tovar,” 1854–1855, A. Fendler 104 (holotype US!; isotypes G n.v., MO-4 sheets, YU-3 sheets, probably also in B, BM, K, and/or OXF, none seen) .

Plants terrestrial, thicket-forming. Rhizomes long-creeping, branching, lanose. Leaves 1–3 m long; petioles proximally dark brown to blackish, stramineous to light brown distally, proximally with epipetiolar roots, adaxially sulcate, glabrous; blades rhombic, proximally 3–4-pinnate-pinnatifid, medially less dissected, distally pinnatifid; pinnae and pinnules distally with free lobes between the segments; compound distal segments inequilateral, irregularly dissected, caudate at apex; simple distal segments linear, to 3(–4) cm long; costae abaxially terete, with reddish catenate hairs, adaxially glabrous; costules abaxially strongly flattened, alate, with reddish catenate hairs, adaxially glabrous; veins abaxially strongly raised, sericeous with lax hairs, adaxially glabrous, laminar tissue between the veins abaxially not visible, with a farinaceous appearance, covered by conspicuous gnarled hairs, adaxially glabrous; pseudo-indusia glabrous.

Etymology:— The varietal epithet is Latin for “griffin”, a mythological creature with eagle and lion body parts. Pteridium esculentum subsp. gryphus has pinnae parallel to the ground, giving the blade an eagle-like appearance.

Range:— Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Ecuador (including Galapagos Isl.), Peru, and Bolivia (LP); probably also in Mexico, Central America, Colombia, northern Brazil, and Suriname (no material seen).

Ecology:— Rare in Bolivia (common in northern South America); terrestrial, an aggressive and invasive species in disturbed habitats; 1400–2750 m, from sea level elsewhere.

Paratypes: — COLOMBIA. Antioquia: Road between Medellin and Rio Negro, 16 October 1947, Barkley & Gutiérrez 1434c (LIL, CORD).

VENEZUELA. Amazonas: Atabapo, Sierra Parima , 2°42’N, 64°03’W, 1200 m, 13 February 1981, Huber 5980 (US). Bolívar: Chimantá Massif, 1700 m, 21 May 1953, Steyermark 75507 ( US). Distrito Federal: Caracas, June 1917, Curran & Haman 1111 ( GH -n.v., US-2 sheets) ; Caracas and vicinity, 10°30’N, 1000–1200 m, 2 January 1921, Bailey & Bailey 650 ( US) ; Cerros del Avila , 1600 m, 7 October 1921, Pittier 41 ( US) ; Los Venados, south side of Pico Avila, just north of Caracas , 1300–1500 m, 12 September 1961, Tryon & Tryon 5720 ( UC, US). Monagas: SW of Caripe, 1100 m, 26 Apr 1967, Pursell et al. 8775 ( US) .

GUYANA. Malali: Demerara river, 5°35’N, 30 October–5 November 1922, de la Cruz 2658 (UC, US).

Tumatumari: 18 June–8 July 1921, Gleason 423 ( US).

FRENCH GUIANA. Perrouquets, région littorale, 5°15’30”N, 52°47’36”W, 8 m, 11 May 2007, Granville & Tostain 17423 ( US).

ECUADOR. Chimborazo: Cañon of the río Chanchan, 1524–1981 m, 19–28 May 1945, Camp E-3357 ( US).

Galapagos Islands: Abingdon Island, south side of the island, above 500 m, 19 September 1905 –1906, Stewart 992 ( US); Chatham Island, Wreck Bay 300–700 m, 23 February 1905 –1906, Stewart 995 ( US); Isla Santa Cruz, trail to Mt. Crocker, 500–560 m, 6 February 1964, Wiggins 18616 ( US); Narborough Island, SW slope, 750 m, 4 February 1964, Cavagnero 10 ( US). Pichincha: road Aloag-Santo Domingo-Tandápi, 1500 m, 10 January 1967, Sparre 13901 ( US).

Zamora-Chinchipe: 32 km from Zamora, 0°24’N, 78°48’W, 1925 m, 19 March 1995, Ortiz et al. 497 ( US). Prov. unknown: San José de Minas, 1600–2000 m, Mille 140 ( US).

PERU. Ayacucho: Estrella, between Huanta and Río Apurimac, 500 m, 8–14 May 1929, Killip & Smith 23095 (US). Cajamarca: Tabaconas , 5°20’S, 79°18’W, 1900 m, 11 June 1947, Fosberg 27786 ( US). Cusco: Pillahuata, Cerro de Cusilluyoc , 2200–2400 m, 3–6 May 1925, Pennell 13936 (US) ; San Miguel: Urubamba Valley, 1800 m, 28 May 1915, Cook & Gilbert 953a ( US). Huánuco : Chinchao , 16 August 1940, Asplund 13146 ( US) ; Pampayaco , 20 January 1927, Kanehira 169 ( US) ; Huánuco , 2300 m, 12 September 1956, Tryon & Tryon 5224 ( BM n.v., F n.v., MO n.v., U n.v., US, USM n.v.) ; Chinchao to Puente Durand , 2000 m, 12 December 1953, Coronado 92 ( GH n.v., US 4 sheets) ; Playapampa , 2743 m, 16–24 June 1923, Macbride 4507 ( US). Junín: Mito, 3000 m, 8–22 July 1922, Macbride & Featherstone 1671 ( US). La Libertad: Trujillo, Cerro Campana, 800 m, 19 Apr 1976, Sagástegui & Cabanillas 8352 (MO-n.v., US) .

BOLIVIA. Cochabamba: Sacaba, bosque de Incachaca, 1 September 1921, Steinbach 5740 ( LIL). La Paz: Prov. Bautista Saavedra, Charanzani-Tal , 2750 m, 8 November 1979, Feuerer 6731e (US) ; Hacienda Simaco sobre el camino a Tipuani , 1400 m, January 1920, Buchtien 5271 ( US) ; Prov. Murillo, 1 km W of Estancia Islani Bajo and Planta Hidroeléctrica Jarca , 18 June 1998, Nee & Bohs 49774 ( MO, NY, SP) .

ARGENTINA. Córdoba: Depto. San Javier, Traslasierra, Uritorco, 30 November 2012, Luján 290 ( CORD) ; Sierra de Achala , 28 March 1986, Kuntz 3948 ( SI) . Jujuy: Dept. Capital, Mina 9 de Octubre, 7 Apr 1971, Vervoorst 4555 ( SI) . Salta: Dept. Santa Victoria, Baritú National Park , 28 January 1985, Brown 2010 ( SI) .

Notes:— Schwartsburd et al. (2014) pointed out this might be an undescribed morphotype of “ Pteridium arachnoideum ”. It is here described as a new subspecies of P. esculentum . Pteridium esculentum subsp. gryphus differs from P. esculentum subsp. arachnoideum mainly by the abaxial laminar tissue between veins not visible, with farinose appearance, covered by gnarled hairs. This kind of hair is absent in P. esculentum subsp. arachnoideum , which has laminar tissue between the veins abaxially visible and non-farinose.

The recognition of these two morphotypes is also supported by their geographic distribution: subsp. gryphus occurs mainly in western and northern South America, whereas subsp. arachnoideum predominates in eastern and southern South America; however, the distributions overlap.

Figures

FIGURE 3. A–C. Pteridium esculentum subsp. gryphus (Gleason 423): A. Pinnule. B. Detail of ultimate segment, abaxially, showing sericeous veins. C. Cross section of ultimate segment, abaxial side up, showing the two types of hairs (gnarled hairs pointed by arrow).