Meniscium maxonianum (A.R.Sm.) R.S.Fern. & Salino,

Castro-Aguiar, Pedro Henrique, Fernandes, Rozijane Santos & Zappi, Daniela Cristina, 2025, Ferns of the Parque Nacional das Nascentes do Rio Parnaíba Brazilian Cerrado, Rodriguesia (e 00612024) 76, pp. 1-24 : 20

16.3. Meniscium maxonianum (A.R.Sm.) R.S.Fern. & Salino, Phytotaxa 184(1): 9 (2014). Fig. 5 h-i

Plants terrestrial. Stem short-creeping, glabrous. Fronds (30.5–) 136–168 cm long, monomorphic, pinnate; petiole (15.5–) 68.5–85.5 cm long, pale brown to greenish, sulcate adaxially, with sparse glandular hairs; rachis paleaceous to pale brown, adaxially sulcate, with glandular hairs on both sides; laminae (15–)64–84 × (9.5–) 30–60 cm, pinnate, oblong-lanceolate; pinnae median (5.8–)21.5–32.5 × (1.3–) 2.7–3.8 cm, (3–)10–13 pairs, linear-lanceolate, usually slightly falcate, chartaceous, abaxially with only glandular hairs, glabrous or with sparse glandular hairs adaxially, margins undulate to crenate, base basiscopic, usually rounded, rarely long-cuneate, apex acute to rarely acuminate; veins anastomosed, 9–12 areoles between the costa and the margin of the pinnae. Sori oblong-arcuate, with glandular hairs on the sporangium receptacle; indusia absent.

Examined material: Alto ParnaÍba , PNNRP, Cachoeira do Sussuapara , 10°09’56’’S, 45°55’39’’W, 422 m, 21.IV.2022, P. H. C. Aguiar et al. 31 ( CCAA); P. H. C. Aguiar et al. 42 ( CCAA); 15.XII.2022, P. H. Castro-Aguiar et al. 166 ( CCAA, UB) .

Meniscium maxonianum has a South America distribution ( Fernandes & Salino 2020). In Brazil, it occurs in the Amazon, Cerrado, and Atlantic Rainforest ( Salino et al. 2023). In the study area, it was recorded growing on the edges of streams in the gallery forest and surrounding waterfalls.

This species is characterized by the chartaceous laminae, with numerous glandular, short-pedicellate hairs abaxially, by the cuneate pinnae base, 9–12 areoles between the costae and the margin of the pinnae, and the receptacles of the sporangium bearing glandular hairs.

Figures

Figure 5 – a. Cheilanthes pohliana – habit. b. Pityrogramma calomelanos – habit. c-d. Christella hispidula – c. habit; d. sori on the abaxial surface. e-f. Meniscium arborescens – e. habit; f. sori on the abaxial surface. g. Meniscium delicatum – habit. h-i. Meniscium maxonianum – h. habit; i. sori on the abaxial surface. (a. P.H. Castro-Aguiar et al. 283; b. P.H. Castro-Aguiar et al. 244; c-d. P.H.C. Aguiar et al. 12; e-f. P.H.C. Aguiar et al. 6; g. P.H. Castro-Aguiar et al. 97; h-i. P.H. Castro-Aguiar et al. 166).