Diplazium urticifolium Christ

  • Authority

    Mickel, John T. & Smith, Alan R. 2004. The pteridophytes of Mexico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 88: 1-1054.

  • Family

    Athyriaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Diplazium urticifolium Christ

  • Description

    Species Description - Rhizomes erect, stout, trunk-like, to 30 cm tall; rhizome scales dark brown, ovate-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 4–5(–10) x 1.5–3 mm, entire; fronds 65–130(–150) cm long; stipes greenish to stramineous, 10–30 cm x 4–6 mm, 1/3–2/5 the frond length, scaly at very bases, otherwise glabrous; blades thick-herbaceous, 1-pinnate, 40–80 x 20–32 cm, narrowly oblong, apices pinnatifid, buds absent (ours) or, in most extraterritorial specimens, each blade bearing a bud in the axil of a distal pinna; rachises glabrous abaxially, with erect hairs 0.1–0.2 mm in rachial grooves adaxially; pinnae 7–20 pairs per blade, stalked 1.5–4(–10) mm, 12–18 x 2.5–3.5 cm, equilateral, bases truncate, apices long-acuminate, margins crenate or shallowly lobed 1/3 (or less) the distance to costae, lobes truncate or rounded, broader than long; veins free, pinnate, 3–4(–6) pairs per segment; indument adaxially of erect hairs 0.1–0.2 mm long in costal grooves, abaxially the blades glabrous; sori pinnate, 1–3(–4) pairs per lobe, with brown,± entire indusia mostly 4–10 x 0.3–0.5 mm.

  • Discussion

    Type. Costa Rica. “Vallee de Tuis,” Pittier s.n. (Herb. no. 11293) (P?; isotype US!, frag. NY!).

    Diplazium urticifolium differs from congeners in Mexico by the combination of pinnatifid blade apices, shallowly lobed, equilateral pinnae, and 2–4 pairs of rather long, curving sori on regularly pinnate vein groups. Most specimens in Mesoamerica bear a bud in the axil of a distal pinna, but nearly all Mexican species appear to lack rachis buds.

    Distribution and ecology - Terrestrial in montane rain forests; 1000–1750 m. Mexico; Guat, Bel, Hond, Nic, CR, Pan. Adams (in Davidse et al., 1995) also cited this species from Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, but Stolze et al. (1994) did not treat this species for Ecuador, and we have seen no specimens from Venezuela (Smith, 1985; Smith in Steyermark et al., 1995).

  • Distribution

    Mexico; Guat, Bel, Hond, Nic, CR, Pan. Adams (in Davidse et al., 1995) also cited this species from Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.

    México Mexico North America| Guatemala Central America| Honduras Central America| Belize Central America| Panama Central America| Venezuela South America| Ecuador South America|