Polybotrya cervina (L.) Kaulf.
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Authority
Proctor, George R. 1989. Ferns of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 53: 1-389.
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Family
Dryopteridaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Rhizome 1-2 cm thick (excluding scales), densely covered with golden- or rusty-brown, narrowly linear scales 10-20 mm long, 1 mm wide, each with a tortuous, hairlike apex. Fronds erect, to 1.4 m long; stipes usually shorter than the blades, scaly at base. Sterile blades 1-pinnate, narrowly oblong to oblong-oval, 30-85 cm long, 20-35 cm broad, glabrous; rhachis grooved adaxially; pinnae 4-12 pairs, subopposite to altemate, lanceolate to lance-oblong, 3-7 cm broad, long-acuminate at apex, unequafly cuneate at base, the margins entire (rarely incised), the closely parallel veins mostly forked at base, their tips united by an intramarginal vein. Fertile blades 2-pinnate, usuaUy shorter than the sterile ones; fertile pinnules usually 3-6 mm long.
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Discussion
Fig. 82.
Basionym. Osmunda cervina Linnaeus, Sp. pl. 2: 1065. 1753.
Lectotype. Plumier, Traite foug. Amer., t. 154, based on material from M o m e Rouge, Martinique. Syn. Acrostichum cervinum (Linnaeus) Swartz, Syn. fil. 14. 1806.
Olfersia cervina (Linnaeus) Kunze, Rora 7: 312. 1824.
Dorcapteris cervina (Linnaeus) K. Presl, Epimel. bot. 167. 1852
Note: Since the above treatment was written. R. C. Moran has published (Amer. Fem J. 76: 161-178. 1986) a careful and cogent study of this plant, presenting evidence that it should be separated generically from Polybotrya as Olfersia cervina (Linnaeus) Kunze. Olfersia diflfers from Polybotrya in its stem anatomy, conform terminal pinnae, and unique venation. The two genera are, however, closely related and evidently have a common ancestor in the genus Cyclodium.
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Distribution
General Distribution. Greater and Lesser Antilles, Trinidad, and continental tropical America.
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