Dicksonia karsteniana var. arachneosa (Sodiro) Lehnert, 2018

Noben, Sarah, Kessler, Michael, Weigand, Anna, Tejedor, Adrian, Rodr´, Wilson D., Gallego, Luis Fernando Giraldo & Lehnert, Marcus, 2018, A Taxonomic and Biogeographic Reappraisal of the Genus Dicksonia (Dicksoniaceae) in the Neotropics, Systematic Botany (Basel, Switzerland) 43 (4), pp. 839-857 : 850

1.2. Dicksonia karsteniana var. arachneosa (Sodiro) Lehnert , comb. nov.

Dicksonia sellowiana var. arachneosa Sodiro, Anales Univ. Centr. Ecuador 7: 83. 1893, Sodiro, Crypt. Vasc. Quitenses, 44. 1893.

TYPE: ECUADOR. “ Crece en la región arbórea superior del volcán Corazón ”, L. Sodiro s. n. (not located).

Trunks rarely more than 2 m tall, skirt of dead fronds well developed, indument of hairs on frond axes well developed, adaxially pale brown to grayish white, spreading, abaxially mostly white or (in northeastern Colombia and Venezuela) pale orange-brown, spreading to matted, if lost or abraded usually leaving a scabrous surface, hairs on costules abaxially usually dense, thick and appressed, hairs on midveins and lateral veins variable, few to many; sori 1.5–2.0 mm diam. Figures 1B, F, G , 5B .

Etymology —The name refers to the often cobwebby appearance of the white hairs on the frond axes.

Distribution and Habitat — Venezuela to northern Peru, maybe more widely distributed, in temperate upper mountain rainforest to sub-páramo and open grassland at 2400–3300 (–3600) m ( Fig. 6 ).

Specimens Examined — Colombia. — CUNDINAMARCA: Alto de Cuchuco hacia La Aguadita, km 34 de la carretera, 2600 m, 24 Mar 1974, C. E. Acosta-Arteaga 203 ( P) .— MAGDALENA: Serran´ıa de Perijá , Correg. Manaure , Sabana Rubia , 2500 m, 05 Mar 1959, R. Romero-Castaneda ~ 7445 ( COL) .— NARINO ~: Pasto , Corregimiento El Encano , Vda. Santa Clara, 01°09 ' 41"N, 77°09 ' 21"W, 2900–3100 m, 27 Jun 2003, J. Benavides 3349 ( HUA) ; Laguna de la Cocha , 01°06 ' 01"N, 77°09 ' 49"W, 2400 m, 05 Jan 1945, J.A. Ewan 16663 ( UC) ; 2800 m, 01 May 1939, A. H. G. Alston 8322 ( MO) ; Laguna de la Cocha, 01°09 ' 51"N, 77°09 ' 23"W, 2900–2950 m, 16 Feb 2015, M. Lehnert et al. 3153 ( HUA, BONN, Z) ; 01°09 ' 45"N, 77°09 ' 09"W, 2800–3000 m, 18 Jun 2007, D. Molina et al. 503 ( HUA) .— NORTE DE SANTANDER: Mun. Pamplonita, Vereda Pica Pica , 07°25 ' 37.5676"N, 72°34 ' 39.3341"W, 2700 m, 03 Dec 2011, L.G. Lopez Herrera 414 ( COL) .— PUTUMAYO: Sibundoy , 01°13 ' 25"N, 76°54 ' 60"W, 2400 m, 04 May 1939, A. H. G. Alston 8387 ( US?) .— SANTANDER: Mun. Tona, Santa Rita, por la carretera de Bucaramanga a Pamplona , antes del Páramo de Berlin , 3160 m, M.T. Murillo and R. Jaramillo-M. 1221 ( COL) .— TOLIMA: Murillo, Vda. Pajonales , Finca El Fifi, 04°52 ' 50"N, 75°09 ' 17"W, 2810 m, 24 Mar 2003, E. Correa 2555 ( HUA) . Venezuela. — TRUJILLO: Pass above Boconó , [ca. 09°14 ' 44"N, 70°12 ' 08"W,] 2550 m, 21 Jan 1939, A. H. G. Alston 6483 ( COL) . Ecuador. — AZUAY: Gualaquiza , 02°58.579’S, 78°48.478’W, 3200–3300 m, 29 Oct 1955, A. Beaverhausen 3810 ( STU). — CANAR ~: Azogues-Pindilig road, km 8–10 from Azogues, 02°42’S, 078°47’W, 3000–3100 m, 08 Jun 1979, B. LØjtnant and U. Molau 14245 ( AAU, MO). — CARCHI: Colonia Huaquena ~, 00°35 ' 05"N, 77°42’W, 3300 m, 29 Jun 1994, A.L. Fay 4319 ( MO) ; 3200–3500 m, 02 Jun 1989, G. Tipáz 104 ( MO) ; Tulcán , 00°50’N, 78°03’W, 3150–3250 m, 17 May 1973, L. Holm-Nielsen, S. Jeppensen, B. LØjtnant, B. Øllgaard 5645 ( UC). — LOJA: Cajanuma, 04°07’S, 79°10’W, 2980 m, 15 March 2008, N. Cumbicus, R. Sinche 457 ( STU), same locality, 2880 m, 08 Dec 2010, M. Lehnert 2323 ( STU). — PICHINCHA: “In silv. suband. m. Corazón”, Dec 1907, L. Sodiro s.n. ( PH [image], S [image]). — ZAMORA-CHINCHIPE: Cerro Toledo, along the road down to Vilcabamba , 04°23.105’S, 79°07.536’W, 2900 m, 03 Jul 2014, M. Lehnert 2833 ( BONN, LOJA) . Peru. — AMAZONAS: Mendoza, road Molinopampampa-Mendoza , 06°14.083’S, 77°36.035’W, 2487 m, 08 November 2010, M. Lehnert 2015 ( USM), M. Lehnert 2017 ( USM) .

Notes —We have not been able to locate and consult any confident type material of the basionym for this variety. However, the characteristic appearance of plants and specimens with the persisting white woolly hair is described by Sodiro (1893) and clearly visible in the consulted authentic Sodiro material from the locus classicus (“In silv. suband. m. Corazón”, Dec 1907, L. Sodiro s.n. [ PH, S]).

Figures

FIG. 1. Important characters of Andean Dicksonia in the field. A–C. Trunk and leaf arrangement of plants growing outside the forest. A. Dicksonia lehnertiana, short trunks ca. 0.8 m tall, no skirt of old fronds (Anori, Dept. Antioquia, Colombia). B. Dicksonia karsteniana var. arachneosa, trunks ca. 1.7 m tall, with skirt of old fronds (La Cocha, Dept. Nar~ no, Colombia). C. Dicksonia stuebelii, trunks 2–3.6 m tall, fronds characteristically erect, dead fronds persisting but not forming skirt (Colan, Dept.Amazonas, Peru).D–I. Hairs on petioles.D.Spreading bristly hairs, D.lehnertiana (Yarumal, Dept.Antioquia, Colombia). E. Matted hairs, paler undercoat exposed by emerging adventitious buds, D. navarrensis (Dept. Caldas, Colombia). F. Thick white undercoat with longer darker hairs emerging, D. karsteniana var. arachneosa (La Cocha, Dept. Nari~ no, Colombia). G. Woolly hairs, left D. karsteniana var. arachneosa (or probable hybrid) with D. stuebelii, right (Molinopampa, Prov. Amazonas, Peru). H. Spreading soft hairs, undercoat weakly developed to absent, D. karsteniana var. spruceana. I–J. Adventitious buds I. Buds with small coiled-up croziers (dashed circles), at base of rotting petiole still attached to trunk (right), D. navarrensis (Colombia). J. Small plant from such a bud growing in root mantle of mother plant, D. navarrensis (Panama). All pictures © M. Lehnert except for C, © A. Tejedor.

FIG. 5. Important characters of Neotropical Dicksonia. A. Dicksonia karsteniana var. karsteniana. (A1 from Lehnert 1000, GOET; A2, A4 from Mostacero and Castillo 275, UC, from locus classicus of the species; A3 from Delascio-Ch. 9063, UC). B. Dicksonia karsteniana var. arachneosa. (B1, B4 from Lehnert 2323, STU; B2 from Cumbicus et al. 457, STU). C. Dicksonia karsteniana var. spruceana. (C1, C2 from lectotype, Spruce 4728, K; C3, C4 from Quipuscoa et al. 2630, UC). D. Dicksonia navarrensis.(D1–D4 from Lehnert 3493 with Tejedor, BONN). A1–D1. Petioles, showing lower parts, either with spreading hairs (A1–C1) and varying undercoat (well developed in B1), or all hairs matted (D1). Lowest pinnae tapering, often reaching down to petiole base (A1), may be substituted for adventitious buds (D1). A2–D2. Pinnules, adaxially (not shown for B).Large ones (A2, D2) showing typical form with slightly asymmetric base, which may be more notable in smaller pinnules from pinna apex (C2). A3–D3. Sterile segments, abaxially. A4–D4. Fertile segments, abaxially.

FIG.6. Distribution of Dicksonia in South America. A. Dicksonia karsteniana (squares), D.sellowiana (dots). Inset: varieties of D. karsteniana, var. arachenosa (triangles), var. spruceana (asterisks). B. Dicksonia lehnertiana (crossed circle), D. navarrensis (triangles), D. stuebelii (stars; occurrence in northern Colombia).