Elaphoglossum gardnerianum (Kunze ex Fée) T.Moore

Vasco, A., 2011, Taxonomic revision of Elaphoglossum subsection Muscosa (Dryopteridaceae), Blumea 56 (2), pp. 165-202 : 179-181

5. Elaphoglossum gardnerianum (Kunze ex Fée) T.Moore — Fig. 1e , 6 ; Map 6

Elaphoglossum gardnerianum (Kunze ex Fée) T. Moore (1857b) 357.— Acrostichum gardnerianum Kunze ex Fée (1845) 55,t. 15,f. 3. — Type: Gardner 93 (lecto P (barcode P00249740), designated here; iso BM (barcode BM000890236),BM (barcode BM000890238),GCE n.v.(photo NY ex GCE), P (barcode P00249739, specimen on the left), P (barcode P00249741)), Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Montes Órgãos, (22°16'S, 42°32'W), 1837.

Plants epiphytic. Rhizome 2 – 5 mm wide, compact; rhizome scales 3 –5 mm long, linear-lanceolate, orange to brown, entire to denticulate, base truncate, apex filiform, oftentimes broken. Sterile leaves (4.5 –) 7.5 –17 cm long, approximate; phyllopodia present, obscured by the petiole-base scales; petiole 1.5– 5 cm long, 1/6 –1/3 the length of the sterile leaves; larger petiole scales 2 –5 mm long, scattered to dense, spreading, oblanceolate, light brown to orange, ciliate, base truncate, short-stalked (c. 0.1 mm), apex acute; smaller petiole scales 0.3 – 0.5 mm long, scattered to dense, appressed, oblanceolate to round, light brown to orange, long-ciliate, base truncate, short-stalked (c. 0.1 mm), apex acute; lamina (3–)5.5–13.5 by (1–) 1.5– 3 cm, oblanceolate, coriaceous, base broadly cuneate, apex obtuse; veins c. 1 mm apart, at an angle of 75° with respect to the costa; adaxial laminar scales 0.5 – 2.5 mm long, dense, not imbricate, oblanceolate to linear-lanceolate, light brown, long-ciliate, base truncate, short-stalked (c. 0.1 mm), apex acute to filiform; abaxial laminar scales 0.5– 2.5 mm long, dense, not imbricate, slightly elevated above the surface of the

179 lamina to patent, oblanceolate to linear-lanceolate, light brown to orange, long-ciliate, base truncate, short-stalked (c. 0.1 mm), apex acute to filiform; abaxial costal scales same as the laminar ones, pointing at right angles, slightly elevated; marginal scales same as the laminar ones, dense. Fertile leaves longer than the sterile leaves; petiole 1/2– 3/5 the length of the fertile leaves; petiole scales same as the ones of the sterile leaves; lamina (2.5 –)5–10 by 0.4– 2 cm, narrowly elliptic, coriaceous, glabrescent with age, base broadly cuneate, apex obtuse; adaxial laminar scales 0.5– 2 mm long, dense, imbricate, lanceolate to round, light brown to orange, long-ciliate, base truncate, short-stalked (c. 0.1 mm), apex acute to filiform; abaxial costal scales 0.5–1.5 mm long, dense, pointing at right angles to apex, oblanceolate to round, light brown to orange, long-ciliate, base truncate, short-stalked (c. 0.1 mm), apex acute to filiform; intersporangial scales 0.5 –1.5 mm long, scattered, oblanceolate to round, light brown to orange, long-ciliate, base truncate, short-stalked (c. 0.1 mm), apex acute to filiform. Spores papillate, without ridges.

Distribution — Brazil, states of Bahia, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo; 900–1700 m. Epiphytic, growing in montane forests.

Selection of other specimens examined. BRAZIL, Bahia, Arataca, Serra do Peito de Moça, estrada que liga Arataca à Una , ramal c. 22.4 km de Arataca com entrada no Assentamento Santo Antônio , 15°10'25"S, 39°20'30"W, 1000 m, 16 Feb.2006, Matos et al. 1000 ( CEPEC) . Espírito Santo, Castelo, Brazo do Sul , [20°36'S, 41°12'W], 13Aug. 1948, Brade 19289 ( RB) . Minas Gerais, Serra do Caraça ,[20°05'S, 43°28'W],s.d., Damazio 1803 ( RB) ; Santa Maria do Salto,divisa entre Bahia e Minas Gerais, Fazenda Duas Barras , Reserva do Alto Cariri , 16°24'23"S, 40°03'16"W, 950 m, 9 Feb. 2006, Matos et al. 939 B ( CEPEC) . Rio de Janeiro, Itatiaia, Maromba ,[22°25'S, 42°35'W], 1050 m, May 1950, Brade 20301 ( RB) . São Paulo, Campo Grande , [23°58'S, 46°21'W], 1907, Wacket 186 ( UC) .

Notes — Elaphoglossum gardnerianum can be distinguished by its small size (sterile leaves (4.5–) 7.5–17 cm long), epiphytic habit, compact rhizomes, short petioles (1/6 –1/3 of the sterile leaves), long-ciliate, concolorous petiole and laminar scales, and papillate spores. It has intersporangial scales, which sometimes are difficult to distinguish because their colour is very similar to that of the sporangia. Elaphoglossum muscosum , the other species of the group occurring in Brazil, can be distinguished from E. gardnerianum by longer leaves (10 – 35 cm long), longer petioles (1/3 –2/5 of the leaves length), erose petiole scales, and ciliate laminar scales. The cilia of the abaxial laminar scales of E. muscosum are never longer than the body of the scale, which is always the case in E. gardnerianum . Another difference between these two species is that generally E. muscosum has imbricate scales that obscure the abaxial surface of the laminae, whereas E. gardnerianum has dense to scattered scales that are never imbricate, thus the abaxial surface of the lamina is visible.

Plants from Brazil that have been identified as E. bellermannianum are misidentified; they represent either E. gardnerianum or E. muscosum . The main difference between E. bellermannianum , which does not occur in Brazil, and E. gardnerianum is that the former has bicolorous petiole and/or lamina scales ( Fig. 3c, f). These are darker at the point of attachment, or mottled, or black medially with white borders. In contrast, scales of E. gardnerianum are always concolorous. Another difference is that the larger scales of the petioles and laminae of E. gardnerianum are always long-ciliate, whereas those of E. bellermannianum are erose.

Figures

Map 6 Distribution of Elaphoglossum gardnerianum (Kunze ex Fée) T.Moore.

Fig. 1 Spores of Elaphoglossum subsect. Muscosa. a. E. aschersonii; b. E. bellermannianum; c. E. corderoanum; d. E. engelii; e. E. gardnerianum; f. E. glabrescens; g. E. laxisquama; h. E. lehmannianum; i. E. muscosum; j. E. novogranatense; k. E. oculatum; l. E. oreophilum; m. E. quisqueyanum; n. E. ruficomum; o. E. yatesii (a: Moran 7645, NY; b: Meier 302, NY; c: Holm-Nielsen 3260, AAU; d: Sánchez 465, US; e: Wacket 186, UC; f: Buchtien 2725, US; g: Vásquez 28162, NY;h: Ruíz-Terán 976, NY;i: Underwood 3212, NY;j: Vasco 746, NY; k: Hutchison 1629, UC;l: Holm-Nielsen 19071, AAU; m: Zanoni 20917, NY;n: Sagástegui 12091, NY; o: Navarrete 1402, NY). — Scale bars = 10 µm.

Fig. 6 Elaphoglossum gardnerianum (Kunze ex Fée) T.Moore. a. Habit; b. rhizome scale; c. larger petiole scale; d. smaller petiole scale; e. abaxial laminar scale; f. abaxial laminar surface; g. adaxial laminar scale; h. adaxial laminar surface; i. fertile lamina (all: Matos 939B, CEPEC).