Tectaria moranii Li Bing Zhang & G.D. Tang, 2018

Tang, Guang-Da & Zhang, Li-Bing, 2018, Tectaria moranii (Tectariaceae), a new fern species from Costa Rica, Phytotaxa 357 (3), pp. 230-234 : 230-232

Tectaria moranii Li Bing Zhang & G.D. Tang , sp. nov. ( Fig. 1 ).

Type:— COSTA RICA. Provincia de Heredia ; Canton Sarapiqui: 10°25’48.43”N, 84°0’35.14” W, by a small river, elev. ca. 20 m, May 2008, C. J.Rothfels, A. L.Grusz, et al. 08-169 (holotype, MO-6129765!; isotypes, DUKE-398720!, CR, INB) .

Diagnosis:— Tectaria moranii is similar to T. vivipara in having rachis bulbils, but the former has rhizome short-creeping, petiole and rachis brown, lamina ovate, rachis bulbils proliferous, pairs of pinnae per lamina 9–12, pinnae 1.5–3.5 cm wide, and sori not occurring at the apex of pinnae, while the latter has rhizome erect or ascending, petiole and rachis stramineous, lamina deltoid, rachis bulbils non-proliferous, pairs of pinnae per lamina 4–7, pinnae up to 6.5 cm wide, and sori occurring all over the pinnae.

Plants terrestrial, 90–110 cm tall. Rhizomes short-creeping, over 10 cm long, ca. 1.6 cm diam., glabrous; roots lignified. Fronds non-clustered. Petioles brown, shorter than lamina, obviously sulcate, no scales. Laminae ca. 60 × 36 cm, ovate, 1-imparipinnate, apical segment and 2–3 pairs of pinnae close to apical segment decurrent; rachises brown, glabrous, obviously sulcate, bulbils present distally, proliferous; pinnae 9–12 pairs, nearly opposite, elliptic-lanceolate, entire to very shallowly undulate, glabrous on both surfaces, green when drying, margins glabrous, base cuneate and slightly cordate, asymmetrical, apex caudate, middle and basal pinnae with petiolule; basal pinnae ca. 17 × 3.5 cm, with 1 basal lobe, lobe 9.5 × 2 cm; middle pinnae the largest, ca. 20 × 3.5 cm; sori orbicular, arranged in 2 lines between the main lateral veins, not occurring at apex of pinnae; indusia unseen.

Geographical distribution:— Tectaria moranii was recorded as “common” in the area of the type locality at La Selva Station, Canton Sarapiqui, Provincia de Heredia, Costa Rica. However, when the type was collected, T. moranii was not distinguished from T. vivipara . Therefore, the accurate distribution of Tectaria moranii in Costa Rica is unknown. It is not clear if the species occurs in neighboring countries.

Habitat:— Tectaria moranii was observed to grow in forest by a small river, at an elevation of ca. 20 m. It is in fact a rheophyte and abundant along rivers and streams.

IUCN Red List category:—LC—Least Concern.

Etymology:—In honor of Robbin C. Moran, a renowned pteridologist based chronologically at Missouri Botanical Garden, Aarhus University, and New York Botanical Garden, for his great contributions to the New World pteridology, especially for his treatment of Tectaria for Flora Mesoamericana ( Moran 1995) .

Additional material examined:— COSTA RICA. Provincia de Heredia; Canton Sarapiqui: near Puerto Viejo, La Selva Biological Research Station , 10.430N, 84.0158W, 1 July 2014, W. L. Testo 539 ( VT) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Tectaria moranii sp. nov.—A. Habit.—B. Portion of rachis with pinna showing adaxial view of pinna.—C. Portion of rachis with pinna showing abaxial view of pinna and proliferous bulbil (based on the isotype at DUKE).