Crepidomanes inopinatum (Pic.Serm.) J.P.Roux

Ahamada H. Saïd, Sabine Hennequin, Germinal Rouhan & Jean-Yves Dubuisson, 2017, Disentangling the diversity and taxonomy of Hymenophyllaceae (Hymenophyllales, Polypodiidae) in the Comoros, European Journal of Taxonomy 313, pp. 1-53 : 12

Crepidomanes inopinatum (Pic.Serm.) J.P.Roux

Crepidomanes inopinatum (Pic.Serm.) J.P.Roux, Conspectus of southern African pteridophyta: 45 (2001). – Vandenboschia inopinata Pic.Serm. , Bulletin du Jardin botanique national de Belgique 53, 1/2: 245, 246 (1983).– Type: DRC, s. loc., s.d., R.E.G. Pichi Sermolli 4455 (holo-: FI-PS 19455; iso-: K000435648!, BR 0000008054661!).

Trichomanes inopinatum (Pic.Serm.) J.E.Burrows , Southern African ferns and fern allies: 93 (1990).

Trichomanes pyxidiferum L.f. majus Taton , Bulletin de la Société royale de Botanique de Belgique 78: 34 (1946). – Type: DRC, s. loc., s.d., J.C.C. Bequaert 3931bis (syn-: BR 0000013208462!); DRC, s. loc., s.d., J.C.C. Bequaert 4231 (syn-: BR 0000013204853!); DRC, s. loc., s.d., J.C.C. Bequaert s.n. (syn-: BR 0000013204877!); DRC, s. loc., s.d., J.C.C. Bequaert s.n. (syn-: BR 0000013204860!).

Short description

Epiphytic or lithophytic; long-creeping filiform rhizomes, rootless and densely covered by dense black trichomes, bearing widely separated pending fronds; fronds well stipitate, with wing on the upper part of the stipe, up to 10(–15) cm long, lanceolate to ovate, pinnate-pinnatifid to bipinnate-pinnatifid with sometimes, when dry, folds parallel to veins; sori numerous, paratactic, mostly as long as wide, obconic to campanulate with a slightly dilated mouth.

Global distribution

Central Africa to the western Indian Ocean.

Distribution in Comoros

Grande Comore.

Additional specimens examined

COMOROS: GRANDE COMORE, Massif de la Grille, 30 Nov. 2002, F.Rakotondrainibe et al. 6841, 6841bis (P00312119, P00312120).

Note

The medium-sized (with bipinnate-pinnatifid fronds usually up to 10 cm long,rarely longer) C. inopinatum is usually found in highland rainforests from Central Africa to the western Indian Ocean ( Kornaś 1994) and is here newly reported from the Comoros. It is often confused with the morphologically closely related C. melanotrichum (Schltdl.) J.P.Roux which differs only by the dense and black indumentum all along the stipe (vs restricted to the stipe base in C. inopinatum ). Such confusion explains that the BR isotype specimen (BR 0000008054661) was identified on the sheet as C. melanotrichum by Beentje in 2007. The two existing Comorian collects do not exhibit the particular dense indumentum all along the stipe suggesting that they should rather represent C. inopinatum . But as discussed by Dubuisson et al. (2013b), the distinction between C. inopinatum and C. melanotrichum based on stipe indumentum is not always obvious and thus questionable.