Sticherus ferrugineus (Desv.) J.Gonzales, 2011

Gonzales, Jasivia & Kessler, Michael, 2011, A synopsis of the Neotropical species of Sticherus (Gleicheniaceae), with descriptions of nine new species, Phytotaxa 31, pp. 1-54 : 24

Sticherus ferrugineus (Desv.) J.Gonzales , comb. nov.

Mertensia ferruginea Desvaux (1811: 307) .

Type: — FRENCH GUIANA. Collector unknown (holotype P!, hb. A. N. Desvaux) .

Distribution and ecology: —Widespread in mountains of the West Indies, Central America, and South America: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Martinique, Grenada, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, Guyana, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and southeastern Brazil. Common found in northern Mesoamerica and on the Caribbean Islands, but increasingly rare southwards. At (150)300–1300(2300) m in the West Indies, (90)600–1700(3300) m in Mesoamerica, (150) 400–2050 m in the Andes, and 350–950 m in southeastern Brazil. In lowland and montane forests, clearings, on landslides, and along roadsides, often forming large colonies mixed with other species of Sticherus .

Notes: —Specimens of Sticherus ferrugineus are commonly included in S. bifidus (e.g., by Moran 1995), but that species has narrower bud scales with shortened bases, lacks aphlebiae, and proximal internal segments on the basal 1–2 cm of each branch, has a matted-whitish indument, and has laxer, more appressed branch scales. Generally, S. ferrugineus replaces S. bifidus further north, but there is considerable overlap in the ranges of both species. There is some geographical variation in the color of the indument within S. ferrugineus . Specimens from Mexico are brilliantly orange whereas in Mesoamerica the specimens are paler. One specimen from Colombia ( Karsten s.n., B) appears to be a hybrid between S. ferrugineus and perhaps S. furcatus . This specimen is very similar to S. × leonis (which also involves S. ferrugineus as a parent) but has shorter, narrower bud scales, and abaxial segment surfaces weakly indumented.