Mickel, John T. & Smith, Alan R. 2004. The pteridophytes of Mexico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 88: 1-1054.
Gleicheniaceae
Species Description - Rhizomes long-creeping, with castaneous to dark brown ciliate scales 2–3 x 0.2–0.3 mm; stipes 2–3 mm diam.; main axes dormant or often continuing beyond first fork, scaly to glabrescent; dormant buds with tan to whitish, lax, long-ciliate scales 1.5–2 x 0.2–0.4 mm; pinnae 1–2 times pseudodichotomously forking; axes below ultimate forks pectinate on acroscopic side or lacking segments altogether; penultimate segments 3–8 cm wide, the costae bearing tan to whitish ciliate scales 1.5–2 x 0.2– 0.3 mm; ultimate segments chartaceous to subcoriaceous, linear, to ca. 4 cm x 2–3 mm at mid-segment, plane to usually revolute, abaxially densely tomentose with arachnoid hairs; sori inframedial to medial, with 3–4(–5) sporangia per sorus; 2n=68 (Chis, Jam, PR).
Mertensia bifida Willd., Kongl. Vetensk. Acad. Nya Handl. 25: 168. 1804. Gleichenia bifida (Willd.) Spreng., Syst. Veg., ed. 16, 4: 27. 1827. Dicranopteris bifida (Willd.) Maxon, N. Amer. Fl. 16: 60. 1909. Type. Venezuela. Caracas: Bredemeyer s.n. (B-Willd. 19468!).
Mertensia fulva Desv., Me´m. Soc. Linn. Paris 6: 201. 1827. Dicranopteris fulva (Desv.) Underw., Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 34: 255. 1907. Type. Jamaica. Blue Mts., without collector (P; photo BM! ex P).
Mertensia gleichenioides Liebm., Mexic. Bregn. 296 (reprint 144). 1849. Gleichenia liebmannii T. Moore, Index Fil. 379. 1862, nom. illeg. Type. Mexico. Veracruz: Cuapa, Liebmann s.n. [Pl. Mex. 2109; Fl. Mex. 604] (US drawing ex B?). This is a teratological form of S. bifidus.
This is the commonest species of Sticherus in Mexico and is readily identified by its abaxially dense indument, which often hides the sori. It is most easily confused with S. brevipubis, which has similar dense arachnoid indument on the blades abaxially, but in that species (as well as in S. palmatus) the secondary axes (immediately proximal to the ultimate forks) are often pectinate on both sides of the axis, whereas in S. bifidus the secondary axes are seldom wholly pectinate; however, both species may be pectinate only on the acroscopic side. The dormant bud scales in S. brevipubis are dark brown, rigid, and mostly short-ciliate, and the costal scales on abaxial surfaces are nearly absent and less than 1 mm long. Gonzales (2003) has adopted the name Sticherus ferrugineus (Desv.) J. Gonzales, comb. ined., for this species, based on Mertensia ferruginea Desv., Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin Mag. Neusten Entdeck. Gesamten Naturk. 5: 307 (1811). Type. French Guiana, collector unknown (holotype: P, herb. A. N. Desvaux). Gonzales gave as distribution for S. ferrugineus: Mexico to Panama, Greater and Lesser Antilles, Venezuela, Colombia to Bolivia, and southeastern Brazil. According to Gonzales, S. bifidus s. str. co-occurs with S. ferrugineus in the southern part of this range (Panama, Cuba, Colombia to Bolivia, Venezuela, Trinidad, Guyana, French Guiana, and southeastern Brazil) and differs primarily by having narrower bud scales with truncate bases, lacking aphlebiae and proximal internal segments on the basal 1–2 cm of each axis, having a matted-whitish indument, and having laxer, more appressed axis scales.
Mexico North America| Bolivia South America| Brazil South America| Peru South America| Amazonas Ecuador South America| French Guiana South America| Suriname South America| Guyana South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Venezuela South America| Colombia South America| West Indies| Panama Central America| Costa Rica South America| Nicaragua Central America| El Salvador Central America| Honduras Central America| Guatemala Central America|