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Family:

Dryopteridaceae (Pteridophyta)

Primary Citation:

Amer. Fern J. 77(4): 129. 1987

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Description:

by: M. Sundue, G. Rouhan and R.C. Moran

Type: Chile. 1827, L. A. von Chamisso s.n. (Holotype: P)

Description: Plants terrestrial; rhizomes not forming erect trunks; fronds up to 1.4 m long; petiole scales 1.0-2.2 × 0.06-0.15 cm, linear-lanceolate, gold-brown, sparsely and minutely denticulate, the base of the scale thickened and curved immediately above the point of attachment, the apices filiform, somewhat tortuous, the cells elongate; laminae 35-60 cm long, 2-pinnate-pinnatisect to 3-pinnate-pinnatifid at the base, 2-pinnate-pinnatifid medially; basal pinnae (12)22-28(52) cm long, inaequilateral; pinnules short-stalked to sessile, the largest pinnule of the basal pinna 9-11 cm long; pinna rachises sparsely glandular, densely pubescent and moderately scaly both abaxially and adaxially, the glands ca. 0.1 mm long, sessile, hyaline, yellowish, the hairs 0.3-0.5 mm long, 2-5-celled, acicular, hyaline, spreading, the scales 0.8-3.5 × 0.2-0.6 mm, lanceolate, brown, lustrous, entire to erose, the cells elongate; costules abaxially sparsely glandular, densely pubescent and moderately scaly, the glands ca. 0.1 mm long, sessile, hyaline, yellowish, the hairs 0.1-0.5 mm long, 1-5-celled, acicular, hyaline, spreading, the scales 0.5-1.2 × 0.1-0.2 mm, lanceolate, brown, adaxially pubescent, the hairs like those of the abaxial side; laminar tissue between the veins abaxially glabrous to puberulent, the hairs erect 0.3 mm long, also provided with appressed 0.4 mm long reddish uniseriate proscales, adaxially glabrous to sparsely pubescent, the hairs ca. 0.3 mm long, 3- or 4-celled; veins visible on the abaxial side of the lamina, abaxially moderately pubescent and glandular, the hairs 0.2-0.7 mm long, erect, the glands sessile, yellow, hyaline, adaxially very sparsely pubescent to moderately pubescent, the hairs 0.3-0.7 mm long, appressed; lamina margins ciliate, the hairs 0.3-0.4 mm long, 3-4-celled; indusia absent.

Distribution: Chile, Argentina, restricted to Valdivian temperate rain forests; 10-350(500) m.

Comments: Length and distribution of pubescence is variable in Megalastrum spectabile, with specimens ranging from glabrous to puberulent on the lamina surfaces between the veins abaxially. The length of hairs upon the veins also varies in these plants, abaxially ranging from 0.2-0.7 mm long, and adaxially ranging from 0.3-0.7 mm long. Longer haired plants have been recognized as M. spectabile var. philippiana, which Christensen described as being smaller, more coriaceous, more densely scaly, and having subulate whitish hairs intermixed with the shorter hairs. While none of Christensen's characters reliably distinguish var. philippiana, it can be identified by being glabrous between the veins abaxially, and by having slightly longer hairs on the veins abaxially (0.5-0.7 mm long). By comparison, var. spectabile is identified by the puberulent lamina tissue between the veins abaxially (the hairs 0.3 mm long, erect), and relatively shorter hairs on the veins abaxially (0.2-0.6 mm long). We find that the variation in pubescence between these varieties is part of a continuum with numerous intermediates, and not worthy of recognition. Megalastrum spectabile is restricted to the Valdivian temperate rainforests of the Chile and neighboring Argentina. Most collections have been made between 36°-42° deg. S, with one (Sparre 2948) at 30° S, outside of Ovalle, in the Región de Coquimbo, where northern relictual pockets of Valdivian forest occur.

Etymology: From the Latin spectabilis, spectacular, showy.