Phlegmariurus subulatus (Poiret) B. Øllgaard (2012b: 19)

Øllgaard, Benjamin & Testo, Weston, 2021, The Lycopodiaceae of Panamá, Phytotaxa 526 (1), pp. 1-66 : 37-38

25.­­­ Phlegmariurus subulatus (Poiret) B. Øllgaard (2012b: 19) .—Fig. 14C

Lycopodium subulatum Poiret (1814: 544) .— Urostachys subulatus (Desvaux ex Poiret) Nessel (1927: 420) .— Huperzia subulata (Poiret) Holub (1985: 77) . Type:—Herbier de A. N. Desvaux. Donneìe par Mme Vve Lavalleìe en 1896. Annotated by Desvaux (P00559228, lectotype,designated by Øllgaard (1988: 119), possibly a duplicate of a plant in A. Bonpland’s herbarium, bearing the locality: Quindino, [? Quindioì, Colombia], a possible isotype in G.

Urostachys ewanii Herter (1954: 126–127) .— Lycopodium ewanii (Herter) Morton (1964: 72) . Type:— COLOMBIA: NarinÞo, Riìo Potreros, tributary of Riìo Tellez, above Soledad, Cord, Or. 3150 m, Ewan 16526 ( US holotype; NO isotype).

Slender, pendulous, to 2 m long. Shoots heterophyllous, ca. 15–25 mm in diameter including the expanded leaves in the basal divisions, abruptly constricted to 1.5–2 mm in diameter including the reduced and appressed leaves of the terminal divisions. Stems excluding leaves ca. 1 mm thick at the base, upward tapering to less than 0.5 mm, pale greenish to bright red, at least to 10 times dichotomous. Expanded leaves of basal divisions borne in alternating, often irregular whorls of 3, or often upward subdecussate, the whorls or leaf pairs 2–4 mm apart, spreading to perpendicular to the stem, narrowly lanceolate to linear-tapering, straight to obliquely falcate-ascending, (6–)10–15 × 0.5–1 mm, twisted at the base, flat, soft-herbaceous. Leaves of terminal constricted divisions subdecussate, or in alternating whorls of 3 just above the constriction of the shoots, the leaf pairs or whorls 1–2 mm apart, sporangiate almost throughout, closely imbricate, widely ovate with obtuse to acute apex, abaxially rounded to carinate, 1.3–2 × 1.3–1.5 mm, equalling or slightly exceeding the sporangia. Sporangia ca. 1 mm wide.

­­­ Distribution:— Honduras, Costa Rica, Panamá, Colombia to Bolivia.

­­­ Habitats:—Epiphytic in cloud forest and elfin forest, 1950–3200 m elev.

­­­ Notes:— Closely related to Phlegmariurus phylicifolius with which it has an overlapping distribution, but which occurs in a wider range of generally more exposed habitats. P. subulatus seems restricted to the most humid montane forests. The sporangiate leaves appear less regularly reduced in the Mesoamerican material than in the Andean plants, often exhibiting long cuspidate apices.

­­­ Specimens­­­studied:— Bocas­­­del­­­Toro: Cordillera de Talamanca, 2 airline km NW of peak of Cerro Echandi, Costa Rica-Panama border, 2850 m, Davidse et al. 25105 (AAU, UC). Cordillera de Talamanca, 4 airline km NW of main peak of Cerro Fábrega, 3000–3150 m, Davidse et al. 25384 (AAU, UC). SE slopes of Cerro Echandi, 2600–2800 m, Gómez 22241 (AAU). Between Itamut and Bine peaks, Fabrega Massif, 3200 m, Gómez et al. 22529 (AAU, MO, UC). Between Itamut and Bine peaks, Fabrega Massif, 3200 m, Gómez et al. 22530, 22548 (AAU). Upper Río Colubre, 2500–3000 m, Gómez et al. 21882 (AAU). NE of camp 2, along ridge to Río Teribe, 17.3 km NE of Estación Pittier, 2900–3000 m, Knapp & Monro 9918 (PMA). Cerro Fábrega, ca 1.5 km SE of the peak, 3200 m, Monro & Klitgaard 4131 (MO, PMA). Going W on ridges toward Kamuk, 3200 m, Monro & Knapp 5266 (PMA). Chiriquí: Between Alto de las Palmas and top of Cerro Horqueta, 2100–2268 m, Maxon 5482 (GH, NY, S, US). Above Guadalupe, ca. 2 km N of Cerro Punta, 2000 m, Maas & Dressler 4857 (AAU, Z)