Anemia x paraphyllitidis Mickel
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Authority
Mickel, John T. & Beitel, Joseph M. 1988. Pteridophyte Flora of Oaxaca, Mexico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 46: 1-580.
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Family
Anemiaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Rhizome compact, short-creeping to ascending, 5-8 mm diam.; rhizome hairs orange; fronds erect, 18-32 cm tall; stipe 1/3-½ the frond length, stramineous, hirsute; blade ovate-deltate, 5-11 cm wide, once-pinnate, papyraceous; pinnae 59 pairs, 1.4-2.3 cm wide, 3-6 cm long, opposite to subopposite, tapering to apex, lower ones short-petiolate, upper pinnae narrowly adnate, lanceolate, cuneate at base, rarely rounded, apex acute to obtuse, margin minutely crenulate, lamina hirsute; veins casually anastomosing, (20-)25-32 anastomoses per pinna; fertile pinnae approximate to the sterile pinnae, equal to or surpassing the sterile blade in height; spores abortive, echi-nate; chromosome numbers n = 38II + 76I and 38II + 114I.
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Discussion
Type. Mexico. Oaxaca: Dist. Villa Alta, trail from Villa Alta to airstrip, 4000' [1220 m], 5 Aug 1962, Mickel 1118 (NY!). Anemia collina sensu Martens & Galeotti, Mém. foug. Mexique 20. 1842, non Raddi, 1819. This plant is presumably the backcross between A. semihirsuta (A. hirsuta x diploid phyllitidis) and A. phyllitidis, or it may be formed through crossing of A. hirsuta with tetraploid A. phyllitidis. The veins in A. x paraphyllitidis are somewhat anastomosing (mostly 25-32 anastomoses per pinna), the pinnae of the young fronds are oval but more elongate on mature fronds. It is most often confused with A. munchii, which see for further discussion. Anemia donnell-smithii Maxon (N. Amer. Fl. 16: 43. 1909), of Honduras, is larger, with pinnae ca. 14 pairs, but in frond form matches A. x paraphyllitidis rather closely. However, the latter has netted veins and abortive spores, whereas A. donnell-smithii has free veins and striate but not echinate spores and apparently is a distinct taxon not involving A. phyllitidis at all. Gómez (Brenesia 18: 156. 1980) described Anemia x didicusana as a hybrid between A. hirsuta and A. phyllitidis in Costa Rica, but the hybridization between these two species is very complex, involving fertile and/or sterile crosses with multiple ploidal levels of at least one of the parents. Examination of holotype, isotype, and paratype material of A. x didicusana has shown it to be very close to A. x paraphyllitidis, but the Costa Rican plants have 3-6 pairs of incised pinnae whereas A. x paraphyllitidis everywhere else has entire pinnae or only a single incision in the basal pair of pinnae, and there seems to be a difference in the number of anastomoses per pinna. In light of the complexity of the hybrid situation and the uniformity of all other material of A. x paraphyllitidis, I am maintaining A. x didicusana as distinct until living material from Costa Rica can be studied.
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Distribution
Uncommon on partially shaded, disturbed banks in warm mesic forest; Juquila, Mixe, Villa Alta; 900-1500 m.
Mexico North America|