Alansmia cultrata (Willd.) Moguel & M.Kessler

  • Authority

    Moguel Velázquez, Ana L. & Kessler, Michael. 2013. Grammitid ferns (Polypodiaceae). III. . Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 113: 1--68. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Polypodiaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Alansmia cultrata (Willd.) Moguel & M.Kessler

  • Type

    Type. Jamaica, s.loc., s.d., O. Swartz s. n. (lectotype, designated by Proctor, 1985: p. 580, B; isolectotype, S).

  • Synonyms

    Polypodium cultratum var. reclinatum Brack., Xiphopteris cultrata (Willd.) Schelpe, Ctenopteris cultrata (Willd.) Copel., Grammitis cultrata (Willd.) Proctor, Terpsichore cultrata (Willd.) A.R.Sm.

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants epiphytic, occasionally epipetric; rhizomes 0.5-2.0 cm long, short-creeping to suberect, radially symmetric, setose and scaly, the setae simple, orange to castaneous, 0.5-2.0 mm long, the scales lanceolate to linear lanceolate, orange to castaneous, concolorous, dull or shiny, 0.5-2.0 x 0.2-0.5 mm, setulate and sometimes also puberulent, the setae on scale margins and sometimes on surfaces, yellow to castaneous, 0.3-1.0 mm long, the hairs 0.05-0.10 mm long, simple, and turgid on scale margins and 0.1-0.2 mm long, branched, and turgid on apices; fronds 10-20 (-25) x 1.5-2.5(-3.0) cm, caespitose, pendulous, some fronds with indeterminate and some with determinate growth, if the latter, then the distal segments reduced, 0.3-0.5 x 0.3-0.5, circular to oval and contiguous or fused to a terminal segment; stipes 0.5-1.0 cm x 0.3-0.4 mm, castaneous to dark brown, with simple, yellow to castaneous-orange, 0.5-2.0 mm long setae and hyaline to yellow, simple or branched, 0.1-0.2 mm long hairs; blades oblong to linear-lanceolate, pinnatisect, thin-chartaceous, gradually tapering at the bases, abruptly reduced at the apices, or if with determinate growth, then with a narrow appendage of 2-5 oval to circular, reduced, segment pairs; rachises sclerenchymatous, castaneous to dark brown, puberulent like the stipes, moderately densely covered with simple and abaxially also bifurcate and 3- to 5-branched, yellow to castaneous-orange, 0.5-2.0(-3.0) mm long, stellate or irregularly branched setae; pinnae perpendicular to slightly ascending up to 70° oblique to the rachises, 1.0-1.5 x 0.4-0.8 cm, oblong to oblong-deltate, ca. 2-3 times as long as wide, asymmetrical at the bases, excised to gibbose acroscopically and adnate to slightly decurrent basiscopically, ca. 1/2 of their width adnate to the rachises, apices round, margins entire to sinuate, setose, the setae 0.5-2.0(-3.0) mm long, hyaline to yellow, simple, bifurcate, and stellate, 3-branched, or in specimens from the Antilles, also 3- to 5-branched and castaneous-orange to castaneous-reddish; sinuses 2-6 mm wide; veins free, 1-furcate, ending medially, the costae obscured on both surfaces or abaxially conspicuous and black; blade surfaces adaxially and abaxially puberulent like the stipes and moderately densely setose, the setae simple, yellow to castaneous-orange; hydathodes inconspicuous, lime dots lacking; sori round, castaneous to yellow, arising at the vein apices, up to 15 per pinna, rarely only on the apical halves; receptacles not or sparsely setose; sporangia ciliate, the cilia ca. 0.2-1.0 mm long.

  • Discussion

    A very peculiar character of Alansmia cultrata is the presence on most specimens of some fronds that have determinate growth and form apical segments. Some morphological variation is apparent in this species. On the pinnae margins, the Caribbean plants have castaneous-orange or castaneous-reddish and 3- to 5-branched setae, whereas the continental specimens have only simple and paired, hyaline to yellow setae. The rhizome scales of the Caribbean plants are sometimes shiny, whereas those of plants from Mesoamerica are never shiny. In general, the setae of the Mesoamerican plants are paler than those of the Antillean plants.

    Traditionally, the plants here placed under Alansmia smithii were identified as A. cultrata, but A. smithii clearly differs from the group of Jamaican specimens, and their relationships are discussed under that species. With the exclusion of A. smithii (a very widely distributed taxon) from A. cultrata, the range of this species has been reduced considerably.

    Alansmia senilis is closely related to A. cultrata but differs from it by its narrower fronds (0.7-0.8(-l .5) cm vs. 1.5—2.5(—3.0) cm); linear blades with indeterminate growth and gradually tapering at the apices (vs. linear-lanceolate blades, sometimes with determinate growth, and abruptly reduced at the apices); spore shape and laesure type (reniform to ellipsoid, apparently monolete or rarely trilete vs. tetrahedral-globose, trilete).

  • Distribution

    Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, and St. Lucia, on mossy trunks, tree ferns, and palms or rarely also on rock walls in wet montane and cloud forests, from 650 m to 2500 m.

    Jamaica South America| Guadeloupe South America| Saint Lucia South America| Chiapas Mexico North America| Oaxaca Mexico North America| Heredia Costa Rica Central America| Santa Ana El Salvador Central America| Alta Verapaz Guatemala Central America| Chiquimula Guatemala Central America| Zacapa Guatemala Central America| Comayagua Honduras Central America| Lempira Honduras Central America| Santa Bárbara Honduras Central America| Portland Jamaica South America| Saint Thomas Jamaica South America| Santiago de Cuba Cuba South America| Jayuya Puerto Rico South America| Artibonite Haiti South America| Ouest Haiti South America| Elías Piña Dominican Republic South America| San José de Ocoa Dominican Republic South America|