Mickel, John T. & Smith, Alan R. 2004. The pteridophytes of Mexico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 88: 1-1054.
Dryopteridaceae
Species Description - Rhizomes long-creeping, 1–1.5 mm diam.; rhizome scales linear-lanceolate, reddish brown to black, lustrous with markedly paler margins and sagittate bases, entire, ca. 3 mm long; fronds often 1 cm apart, 7–21 x 1–2.1 cm; phyllopodia distinct; stipes 1/2–2/3 the frond length, with scales mostly 1–2 mm long, brown with pale margins, appressed to slightly spreading, entire to slightly toothed; blades narrowly elliptic, chartaceous to subcoriaceous, acuminate, acute, or obtuse at apices, cuneate at bases; veins inconspicuous, 0.8–1 mm apart, at 60–70º angle to costa; hydathodes present but inconspicuous; blade scales of the adaxial surface generally abundant but not overlapping, lanceolate to narrowly deltate, peltate, brown with pale margins, the abaxial surfaces often essentially glabrous; fertile fronds somewhat taller than the sterile, with longer stipes (2/3–3/4 the frond length), scales sparse abaxially on the costae, not present among the sporangia.
Acrostichum hartwegii Fe´e, Me´m. Foug. 2: 53, pl. 9, f. 2. 1845. Type. Colombia. Bogota´, Hartweg 1486 (G-DEL; isotypes GH!, K!, RB).
Specimens in Mexico and Guatemala tend to have somewhat broader leaf blades than those from South America, but further study is necessary in this complex before species distinctions can be made with confidence. Mickel and Beitel (1988) treated E. hartwegii as a synonym of E. mathewsii (Fe´e) T. Moore, but now, with more plentiful material of this complex at hand from Peru (cf. J. T. Mickel, Elaphoglossum, in Pteridophyta of Peru, IV. Fieldiana, Bot., n.s., 27: 111-166. 1991), we believe the two to be distinct. More study is needed to determine fully the ranges of both species. See E. gratum for discussion of the hybrid between that species and E. hartwegii.
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