Selaginella cabrerensis Hieron., Hedwigia

Smith, Alan R. & Kessler, Michael, 2018, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. III. Selaginellaceae, Phytotaxa 344 (3), pp. 248-258 : 251-252

Selaginella cabrerensis Hieron., Hedwigia 43: 29. 1904.

= Selaginella arroyoana M.Kessler & A.R.Sm. , Edinburgh J. Bot 63(1): 87(--90), f. 3-4. 2006.

= Selaginella chiquitana M.Kessler, A.R.Sm. & M.Lehnert , Edinburgh J. Bot 63(1): 91(--92), f. 3. 2006.

Range: — Colombia; French Guiana; Bolivia (SC); Brazil ( Huaylla et al. 2010).

Ecology: —Locally fairly common; prostrate and saxicolous on walls of periodically dry streambeds and in fissures among rocks, Precambrian sandstone massifs in the cerrado region; 250–900 m.

Notes: — Huaylla et al. (2010), followed by Valdespino (2015a), recently synonymized two species previously regarded as Bolivian endemics. The known species range seems exceptionally disjunct, but this may reflect inadequate collecting of a small, relatively non-descript taxon. This is a grayish Selaginella of prostrate habit with rhizophores emerging along the entire stem length and on branches. When dry, the leaves clasp the stems and the plants superficially resemble unrelated S. sellowii . Selaginella cabrerensis is a member of the S. falcata group, comprising also S. densifolia Spruce , S. falcata (P.Beauv.) Spring , S. kochii Hieron. , and S. xiphophylla Baker , all South American species ( Valdespino, 1993, 2015a).