Pteris mutilata L.

  • Authority

    Proctor, George R. 1989. Ferns of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 53: 1-389.

  • Family

    Pteridaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Pteris mutilata L.

  • Description

    Species Description - Rhizome ascending, 3-5 mm thick, the apex clothed with small, erect, linear-attenuate, reddish- brown scales. Fronds somewhat dimorphic; sterile fronds numerous, densely clustered, spreading or ascending, 10-30 cm long; stipes as long as the blades or longer, straw-colored from a reddish-brown base, grooved; blades deltate to pentagonal in outline, 5-15 cm long and nearly as broad, coarsely 2-pinnate at base, the basal pinnae largest, inequilateral, narrowly deltatecaudate, the segments or pinnules mostly simple, oblong to linear, 5-7 mm broad, entire, finely repand, the rounded tip mucronate; second and third pairs of pinnae often pinnate or lobed at base, the others simple and entire; veins distant, oblique, immersed, once-forked; tissue dark green, papery-herbaceous, glabrous. Fertile fronds long-stipitate, 30-75 cm long, usually much exceeding the sterile; blades up to 30 cm long, similar to the sterile ones; pinnules narrower than the sterile ones, narrowly decunent, the terminal ones up to 10 cm long; sori continuous; indusium narrow, translucent, subentire.

  • Discussion

    Type. Plumier, Descr. pl. Amer., t. 30 (=Traite foug. Amer., t. 51), based on material from Haiti.

    Greater Antilles. Distribution in Puerto Rico. Confined to the northwestem portion ofthe island; recorded from Arecibo, Barceloneta, Florida, Hatillo, Lares, Quebradillas, San Sebastian, and Utuado. Habitat. In humus on limestone ledges or boulders, or among limestone rocks on wooded hillsides at lower middle elevations (200-345 m), locally frequent.

  • Distribution

    Puerto Rico South America| Arecibo Puerto Rico South America| Barceloneta Puerto Rico South America| Florida United States of America North America| Hatillo Puerto Rico South America| Lares Puerto Rico South America| Quebradillas Puerto Rico South America| San Sebastián Puerto Rico South America| Utuado Puerto Rico South America|