Anemia flexuosa (Savigny) Sw., Syn. Fil.

Smith, Alan R. & Kessler, Michael, 2017, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. XIII. Anemiaceae, Phytotaxa 329 (1), pp. 80-86 : 82

Anemia flexuosa (Savigny) Sw., Syn. Fil. 156. 1806.

Range:— Colombia to Bolivia (BE, CH, CO, LP, SC, TA).

Ecology:— Common; terrestrial in thickets or open semihumid forests, on open soil and rocks on slopes and clay banks; 400–3000 m. This species, along with Anemia phyllitidis , produce antheridiogens, plant hormones that induce adjacent gametophytes to form male antheridia instead of female archegonia ( Schraudolf 1964, Yamane et al. 1987).

Notes:— A variable species, with blades ranging from 1-pinnate-pinnatifid (thus approaching A. villosa ) to 2- pinnate-pinnatifid. Anemia villosa Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. has been cited for Bolivia ( Smith et al. 1999), but specimens in herbaria identified as this are now considered A. flexuosa . In Brazil, A. villosa is a very variable species that may involve polyploidy ( Mickel 2016: 92). It is known to hybridize with other species of Anemia , e.g., A. ferruginea and A. flexuosa ( Mickel 2016) . From A. flexuosa , the most similar species in Bolivia, A. villosa differs by having less dissected sterile pinnae (crenate to pinnatisect, not cut to the costae, vs. usually fully dissected to the costae) and fertile pinnae usually longer than the sterile blade (vs. usually shorter). May also be confused with A. tomentosa .