Asplenium yelagagense Mickel & Beitel

  • Authority

    Mickel, John T. & Beitel, Joseph M. 1988. Pteridophyte Flora of Oaxaca, Mexico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 46: 1-580.

  • Family

    Aspleniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Asplenium yelagagense Mickel & Beitel

  • Description

    Latin Diagnosis - Ab Asplenio cirrhato pinnis longioribus acuminatis serratis et soris longioribus differt.

    Species Description - Rhizome suberect, compact but long (3 + cm); rhizome scales black, clathrate, lanceolate, 3-4 mm long, 0.5-0.8 mm wide, entire; fronds clumped; stipe 6-13 cm long, 1/3-½ the frond length, castaneous, grooved, glabrous, non-alate; blade 15-25 cm long, 6-10 cm wide, lanceolate, once-pinnate, apex flagelliform, proliferous, not reduced at base; rachis castaneous, glabrous, narrowly winged (less than 0.1 mm wide); pinnae 10-15 pairs, 3.5-6 cm long, 0.6-0.8 cm wide, lanceolate, acuminate, thick, acroscopically auriculate, base narrowly cuneate, margin sharply serrate, occasionally biserrate; veins obscure, mostly simple, except for acroscopic basal vein, hydathodes prominent; sori 7-11 pairs, each pinna with 1-2 diplazioid sori on basal acroscopic vein; indusia 6-9 mm long, 0.3-0.5 mm wide, suberose, becoming strongly reflexed.

  • Discussion

    Type. Mexico. Oaxaca: Dist. Villa Alta, valley of the Yelagago River, ca. 20 mi NE of Villa Alta, 3500-4000' [1070-1220 m], 29 Jul 1962, Mickel 1058 (NY!; isotype UC). Closely related to Asplenium cirrhatum and similar to it in proliferous flagelliform tip and once-pinnate fronds, A. yelagagense is distinct in its larger pinnae (3.5-6 cm long), which are strongly auriculate, dark green, sharply serrate (sinuses 0.5-1 mm deep), longer (6-9 mm long), with more numerous sori (9-11 pairs), and diplazioid sori usually occurring on the auricle. More study is needed to establish the relationship between these two species and other species in the once-pinnate taxa of this complex including A. acutiserratum (Hieronymus) Mickel of Trinidad, A. campii Mickel & Stolze of Ecuador and especially A. karstenianum Klotzsch and A. galipanense Hieronymus of Venezuela.

  • Distribution

    Terrestrial in wet montane forest on Atlantic slope; Villa Alta; 1050-1200 m. Known only from the type collection.

    Mexico North America| Oaxaca Mexico North America|