Thelypteris hispidula var. inconstans (C.Chr.) Proctor
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Thelypteridaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Terrestrial fern 0.2-0.6(-1.2) m tall. Rhizome short, erect, 3-5 mm thick, bearing at apex a tuft of linear-lanceolate, lustrous dark brown scales 3-6(-8) mm long and <0.7 mm wide, minutely ciliate and often pubescent. Fronds spreading, not dimorphic; stipes mostly 10-40 cm long, straw-colored, sometimes darkened at base, pubescent and with a few scales near base. Blades oblongelliptic or oblanceolate, 8-55 x 7-32 cm, tapering evenly to the short, pinnatifid apex; costae with hairs of different length (0.3-5 mm long); largest pinnae 3.5-16 x 0.8-2 cm, sessile, pinnatifid; segments oblong, slightly oblique or sometimes nearly scytheshaped, mostly ca. 3 mm wide, entire or minutely crenulate toward apex; veins usually 5-9 pairs, simple except in enlarged basal segments. Sori nearly medial; indusium round to kidney-shaped, densely pubescent; sporangia glabrous but their stalks often bearing minute stipitate glands.
Distribution and Ecology - Occasional on shaded banks. Rosenberg (B299, B536) Also on St. Thomas and Tortola; Greater and Lesser Antilles.