Trichomanes cupressoides Desvaux (1827: 330)

Bauret, Lucie, Grall, Aurelie, Senterre, Bruno, Rouhan, Germinal, Hennequin, Sabine, Ebihara, Atsushi & Dubuisson, Jean-Yves, 2015, New circumscription of Trichomanes cupressoides Desvaux (Hymenophyllaceae), an endemic filmy fern from the Seychelles (Indian Ocean), and new insights into the genus Abrodictyum C. Presl in the western Indian Ocean, Phytotaxa 202 (1), pp. 1-14 : 8-9

Trichomanes cupressoides Desvaux (1827: 330) .

= Abrodictyum cupressoides (Desv.) Ebihara & Dubuisson in Ebihara et al. (2006: 244).

Type:— SEYCHELLES. “Habitat in insulis Séchelles”, without date, without collector (holotype P 00065002!)

Terrestrial ferns. Rhizomes short, erect, 0.5–1.2 cm in diameter, bearing long tufted erect red-brown more or less catenate pluricellular trichomes, and numerous robust roots. Fronds clustered, erect; stipes 8–16 cm, bearing occasional trichomes identical to those present on rhizomes, or concentrated on the stipe bases; rachises with similar trichomes as the stipes and rhizomes. Laminae 12.0–18.0 × 5.5–11.0 cm, triangular to deltoid, tripinnate-pinnatifid; pinnae 3.5–7.0 × 1.0–3.0 cm, sub-horizontal to oblique, basally subopposite then alternate, triangular to linear; pinnules bipinnatifid, ovate to linear, with decurrent lamina along the second order rachises; ultimate segments fused at least at their thirdlength, mostly with capillary apices; venation pinnate and anadromous. Sori paratactic, 1.2–2.0 × 0.6–0.8 mm, 1–3 per pinnule, up to 26 per pinna, free, cylindrical, more often slightly bilabiate with a dilated mouth; receptacle short to long-exerted.

Distribution and habitat:—Endemic to the Seychelles ( Mahé and Silhouette islands), terrestrial in the understory of rainforests from sea level to the highest summits (up to 800 m) but restricted to wet and shady micro-habitats in the lowland belt, especially at the lower edge of granite boulders (receiving the shade and water catchment of the large rocks). It is more widespread in the understory of lower montane forests, above 500 m.

Specimens examined:—See Annex 1.