Morton, Conrad V. & Lellinger, David B. 1966. The Polypodiaceae subfamily Asplenioideae in Venezuela. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 15: 1-49.
Aspleniaceae
Species Description - Rhizomes terrestrial, rather elongate, densely paleaceous at apex; fronds 10-15, fasciculate, up to 90 cm long, the stipe about half as long as the blade, greenish brown, somewhat fibrillose; blades oblong, 12-17 cm broad, simply pinnate, not reduced at base, the terminal pinna subconform, the rhachis green, narrowly winged; pinnae 6-14 pairs, petiolulate, lanceolate, mostly 1.5-2 cm broad, attenuate, unequal at base, narrowly cuneate below, roundish auriculate on upper side, crenate-serrate or biserrate; veins once- or twice-forked; sori oblong or elliptic, relatively short, mostly 3-5 mm long, ca. 2 mm broad; indusia broad, membranous, vaulted over the sporangia.
Distribution and Ecology - General distribution. Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil; Galapagos Islands. It is not yet known from the Guayana Highlands, and indeed from Venezuela only from Funck & Schlim 606, which was not localized in Venezuela by Mettenius in describing A. sanguinolentum.
Asplenium nigrescens Hook, fil., Trans. Linn. Soc. [London] 20: 170. 1847, non Blume, 1828. Type: James Island, Galapagos Islands, Darwin. Asplenium sanguinolentum Kunze ex Mett. Abhand. Senckenb. Naturf. Gesell. 3: 142. t. 4, f. 10.1858. Syntypes: Brazil, Beyrich (isosyntype L, 12 photograph 481); Venezuela, Funck & Schlim 606. Asplenium nubilum Moore, Ind. Fil. 150. 1859. A new name for A. nigrescens Hook, fil., non Blume. Asplenium stenocarpon Fee, Crypt. Vase. Bres. 1: 64, t. 19, f. 1. 1869. Type: Brazil, Glaziou 1772 (holotype P, photograph 4138) . Asplenium sarcodes Maxon, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: 494, t. 56, f. 3. 1908. Type: Farallones de la Perla, north of Jaguey, Oriente, Cuba, Maxon 4390 (holotype US) .
Asplenium anisophyllum Kunze var. sanguinolentum (Kunze) Hieron Hedwima 47‘ 226 1908.
Type. Mexico, Galeotti s.n.
In the Index Filicum, A. feei Kunze is recognized as a valid species, but no one has used the name in recent years. Maxon, in his Pteridophyta of Porto Rico, placed it as a synonym of A. sanguinolentum Kunze with a query. A reading of Fee’s description and a study of his illustration (Fee, Mem. Foug. 6: 49, t. 15, f. 2. 1857) shows that A. feei really is the same as A. sanguinolentum, and since the name A. feei is earlier it must be taken up. Fee’s illustration exactly matches a collection from Costa Rica (Tonduz 13346, US). The only discrepancy is that Fee described his species as bearing a proliferous bud, which is not shown on the specimens at hand but which is probably not a distinctive character, since such buds are known on a number of species of Asplenium, particularly on those with rather fleshy leaves such as A. feci. This species can be recognized rather easily by its rather thickish pinnae drying dark in color, falcate and long-attenuate, and especially by the short, oblique sori, with large, vaulted, whitish indusia.