Elaphoglossum huacsaro (Ruiz) C.Chr.

  • Family

    Dryopteridaceae (Pteridophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Elaphoglossum huacsaro (Ruiz) C.Chr.

  • Primary Citation

    Monogr. Elaphoglossum 36: 96. 1899

  • Description

    by: A. Vasco, R.C. Moran, and G. Rouhan

    Lectotype: Venezuela. Mérida: Páramo de Mucute, J. W. K. Moritz 315 (hololectotype: BM, photos MO, NY ex BM; isolectotypes: B, BR, STR,); [other syntype cited: Peru, Habitat in Andinum montibus ad Sanatolmas et Tarmac Provinciae, H. Ruíz 54 (B, BR, US; photos F, US ex B)]

    Description: Terrestrial or saxicolous. Rhizome 3-7 mm wide, erect or ascending, scaly, black; scales 1-3 mm long, lanceolate, black, rigid and flat, entire, the apex often piliform, tortuous. Sterile leaves (10) 17-34 cm long, 1-2 mm apart; phyllopodia present but often weakly defined and hidden by the scales; petioles 1/4-1/3 the length of the sterile lamina, tan to brown; scales present, 0.5-1.5 mm long, lanceolate, dark or light brown, usually spreading, the larger ones often becoming dark first at the apex; laminae (6-)15-24 x 0.8-1.6 cm, linear, subcoriaceous, the base narrowly cuneate, ending well above the phylopodia, the apex obtuse or broadly acute; veins inconspicuous, 1 mm apart, at a angle of 60-75° with respect to the costa, the apices free; hydathodes absent; lamina scales present on both surfaces (some of them reduced to resinous dots), those on the abaxial surface present mainly on the costa, 0.5-1 mm long, lanceolate to ovate, light brown to white, subentire; those on the adaxial surface, 0.3-0.8 mm long, circular to ovate, appressed, thin, pale whitish, entire; marginal scales sparse, 0.5-1 mm long, lanceolate, subentire. Fertile leaves typically longer than the sterile; petioles ca. 2/3 the length of the fertile leaf, tan to brown; laminae (6-) 8-11 cm wide, linear to narrowly elliptic, scaly, the base narrowly cuneate, the apex obtuse to broadly acute.

    Distribution: Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia; elevation (150-) 900-3500 m. Also cited from Panama by Mickel (1995).

    Comments: Elaphoglossum huacsaro can be distinguished from all other species in the ciliatum-group by its erect to ascending rhizomes with dark, rigid scales, and because the abaxial lamina surfaces and costae are sparsely scaly. The scales are thin (translucent), pale whitish, circular to ovate, and appressed. The leaves are ascending, fasciculate, and with an obtuse or broadly acute apex. The density of scales in the laminae and petioles is variable, but normally E. huacsaro tends to have more scales on the laminae and petioles than E. ciliatum or E. burchellii. Brade (1964) distinguished Elaphoglossum ernestii from E. huacsaro on the basis of longer leaves, scaly laminae on the abaxial surfaces, and dorsiventral rhizomes with two rows of leaves. The first two characteristics are well within the range of variation we have seen in E. huacsaro. After looking at the specimens determined by Brade as this species, we believe that the rhizome is actually polystichous and not distichous as stated by Brade (1964), therefore we decided to put E. ernestii in synonymy with E. huacsaro.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Elaphoglossum huacsaro (Ruiz) C.Chr.: [Article] Mickel, John T. & Smith, Alan R. 2004. The pteridophytes of Mexico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 88: 1-1054.