Phlegmariurus tryonorum B. Øllg., 2016

Øllgaard, Benjamin, 2016, New neotropical Lycopodiaceae, Phytotaxa 277 (3), pp. 266-274 : 272-273

Phlegmariurus tryonorum B. Øllg. , sp. nov. — Fig. 5

Resembles Phlegmariurus pflanzii ( Nessel 1934: 181) Øllgaard (2012:17) . in most aspects but this is less branched at the base and has distant leaf whorls of 4, not as in P. tryonorum densely covering the stem throughout and borne in whorls of 5.

Type: — COSTA RICA. Cartago /San José: Cordillera de Talamanca , Cerro de la Muerte , ca. 22 km N of San Isidro del General, wet páramo, 3150–3300 m, 24 December 1967, Tryon, R.M & Tryon, A.F. 7055 (holotype GH , isotype F p.p.).

Plants terrestrial, erect or ascending, forming large clumps, to 35–40 cm tall, usually 3–4 times dichotomous. Shoots homoblastic and almost homophyllous, almost equally thick throughout, 10–14 mm in diameter including leaves. Stems excluding leaves ca. 5 mm thick, almost concealed by leaves, sporangiate from 10–15 cm above the base and upward. Leaves densely crowded throughout, borne in rather regular, alternating whorls of 5, these 1.5–2 mm apart, forming (8–)10 usually distinct longitudinal ranks. Leaves uniform throughout or slightly shorter upward, ascending to arcuate-appressed, broadly lanceolate to ovate and acute, appearing rounded at base, the apex straight or slightly upward-curved, 5–7 × 2.5–3 mm, hypostomatic, abaxially slightly rounded, with a prominent vein, the leaf base concave on either side of the narrowly and prominently long-decurrent vein, adaxially flat to slightly concave, softly to firmly coriaceous, green, with narrowly sclerified, irregularly rugose margins. Sporangia ca. 2–2.5 mm wide, spores normal.

Distribution:— Costa Rica; endemic to Cerro de La Muerte.

Habitat:—Terrestrial, in shrubby, wet, mossy páramo at 3150–3300 m.

Etymology:—The name of this species commemorates the great contribution to pteridology of Alice F. Tryon and Rolla M. Tryon of the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University.

Notes:—The Costa Rican collections resemble the Bolivian material of Phlegmariurus pflanzii , and was tentatively referred to that species by Lellinger (1989: 39) and by Øllgaard (1995: 15) in spite of the phytogeographical problem posed by that decision. However, the Bolivian Phlegmariurus pflanzii is less branched at the base and with distant leaf whorls of 4, not as in P. tryonorum with leaves densely covering the stem throughout and borne in whorls of 5.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes): COSTA RICA. Cartago: Cantón Paraiso, Cerro Ascunción, km 88 on Carretera Interamericana, 1 km N of radio tower site at Cerro de la Muerte. Wet páramo, 200 m along service road from park entrance, on Sphagnum -covered banks along road, 3300 m, Testo 773 (CR, VT) .

Figures

FIGURE 5. Phlegmariurus tryonorum.. A. Growth habit B. Terminal divisions. (Tryon & Tryon 7055, holotype GH)