Elaphoglossum rubescens Christ
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Authority
Mickel, John T. & Smith, Alan R. 2004. The pteridophytes of Mexico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 88: 1-1054.
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Family
Dryopteridaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Rhizomes short-creeping, ca. 5 mm diam.; rhizome scales castaneous, lustrous, linear-lanceolate, 2–4 mm long, entire or with short teeth; fronds clumped, 30–65 x 1.5–3.2 cm; phyllopodia distinct; stipes 1/4–1/3 the frond length, sparsely clothed with lanceolate, spreading, toothed scales ca. 2 mm long, more copiously covered with small, appressed, shorter scales with long hair-teeth, scales sometimes reduced nearly to stellate hairs, the stipes often with resin dots; blades linear-elliptic, bases broadly cuneate, apices caudate; veins obscure, free, simple or once-forked, 1–1.2 mm apart, at 70º angle to costa; hydathodes absent; blade scales abundant but not overlapping, adaxially delicate, white, appressed, round to subdeltate, with short hair-teeth, or scales absent with age; abaxial surfaces with scales orange, narrow to deltate, with long hair-teeth and distinctly upturned margins; blade margins especially scaly with scales flat and overlapping; fertile fronds about equal to sterile fronds in length, but with narrower blades (0.7–0.9 cm wide) and longer stipes (1/3–1/2 the frond length), scales on costae abaxially but not among sporangia.
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Discussion
Type. Guatemala. Verapaz: Bernoulli 320 (P, not found).
Elaphoglossum rubescens is most closely allied to E. vestitum, resembling it in rhizome scale color and texture, ciliolate blade scales lightly covering the laminae, and lax fronds with caudate blade tips. The former can be distinguished by the rhizome scales not (or only weakly) toothed, the stipes often with resin dots, and the blade scales with the teeth and margins upturned. These two species may be only varietally distinct, overlapping in Chiapas with several intermediate specimens. Elaphoglossum auricomum belongs to the same complex, but has more abundant spreading stipe scales, the rhizome scales are lighter in color, and the blades have acuminate apices. Some specimens of E. paleaceum have blades only lightly covered with scales, but they have black scales on the stipes and proximal part of abaxial rachises.
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Distribution
Epiphytic in montane rain and pine-oak- Liquidambar forests; 800-1300(-2150) m. Mexico; Guat, Hond, Nic.
Mexico North America| Nicaragua Central America| Honduras Central America| Guatemala Central America|