Terpsichore stella var. flava Moguel & M.Kessler, 2009

Velázquez, Ana Laura Moguel & Kessler, Michael, 2009, Taxonomic notes on the fern species group around Terpsichore lanigera (Polypodiaceae), including the descriptions of three new species and one new variety, Phytotaxa 2, pp. 35-45 : 37-38

Terpsichore stella var. flava Moguel & M.Kessler , var. nov. ( Fig. 1 ).

Terpsichore stella var. stella affinis sed in pinnis cum hydathodibus adaxialiter exudatis calcareis ferentibus, axibus setuliferis rachidium et costarum differt; axes setuliferi copiosi abaxialiter, utriculosi, catenati et flaventes vel castanei.

Type:— PERU: Amazonas: Road Chachapoyas-Mendoza, a little past Molinopampa , 06°14’S, 77°35’W, 2400 m, 15 Mar 1998, Van der Werff 15009 (holotype, MO!; isotype, UC!) .

Fronds 40–80 × 4.0–7.0 cm; rachises abaxially sparely to densely covered with simple, bifurcate and stellate, 3–15-branched, hyaline to castaneous, 0.2–3.0 mm long setae and also with setae growing out of long, 0.5–1.5 mm, hollow and transparent or solid and shrivelled yellowish to castaneous multicelular axes or pedicels; pinnae 2.0–4.0 × 0.4–0.9 cm, perpendicular or at a 60°–70° angle oblique to the rachises, contiguous to widely separated, linear-deltate, symmetric at the bases and completely adnate to the rachises with acute apices or linear-oblong, slightly asymmetric at the bases, excised to curved acroscopically and slightly curved to slightly decurrent basiscopically with bluntly acute to round apices margins entire, setose, the setae simple, bifurcate and basally stellate, 3–20-branched, hyaline to castaneous, 0.5–23.0 mm long; hydathodes lacking or with lime dots. Spores elongated tetrahedral-globose, ca. 27 × 40 µm, trilete.

Distribution and Ecology:— Ecuador (Loja, Morona-Santiago) and Peru (Amazonas, San Martín). Epiphyte in humid forests between 1600 m and 3400 m.

Specimens examined (paratypes):— ECUADOR: Loja: road Loma de Oro (S of Saraguro) toward Fierro Urcu, ca. km 9, B. Øllgaard et al. 91033 ( AAU) . Morona-Santiago: road Gualaceo-Plan de Milagro , 3.8 km E of pass, B. Øllgaard & Navarrete 2779 ( AAU) . PERU. Amazonas: Mendoza, Woytkowski 8254 (MO); Road Chachapoyas-Mendoza, a little past Molinopampa, Van der Werff 15009 (MO) . San Martín: Mariscal Cáceres, Parque Nacional Río Abiseo , B. León 1908 ( UC) ; Valley of Río Apisoncho, 30 km above Jucusbamba, Hamilton & Holligan 334 (K) .

The variety flava is characterised by its peculiar yellowish to castaneous (atropurpureous) setae, which grow out of catenate, long, multicellular axes. Additionally, most specimens of this species from Peru produce calcareous secretions on their hydathodes. In var. stella , which ranges from Costa Rica to Bolivia, the setae are red to atropurpureous while the hydathodes lack lime dots. We treat both forms as varieties because not all specimens with pale setae have lime dots, and because the colour of the setae is intermediate in some specimens. This variety may also be related to Terpsichore lanigera from which it can be differentiated by the setae growing out of long axes on the abaxial surfaces of the rhachises. Also, most individuals of T. lanigera lack stellate setae on the blade surfaces abaxially.

Terpsichore flava var. flava is found in the Huancabamba depression of southern Ecuador and northern Peru, a region that despite lacking mountains above 4000 m is characterised by high levels of botanical diversity and endemism, partly due to a high diversity of different geological substrates ( Weigend, 2002; Kessler & Lehnert, 2009 a, b).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Terpsichore stella var. flava (Van der Werff 15009); A, habit; B, rhizome scale; C, abaxial surface of pinna and rachis; D, setulose axis from rachis.