Pteridium esculentum subsp. arachnoideum (Kaulf.) J.A.Thomson, Telopea

Schwartsburd, Pedro B., Navarrete, Hugo, Smith, Alan R. & Kessler, Michael, 2017, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. XXVI. Dennstaedtiaceae, Phytotaxa 332 (3), pp. 251-268 : 263-264

Pteridium esculentum subsp. arachnoideum (Kaulf.) J.A.Thomson, Telopea 14(1): 45. 2012.

= Pteridium aquilinum var. arachnoideum (Kaulf.) Brade, Zeitschr. Deutsch. Ver. Wiss. Kunst. S. Paulo 1: 56. 1920.

= Pteridium arachnoideum (Kaulf.) Maxon, J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 14: 89. 1924.

Range:— Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia (BE, LP, SC), Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina; probably also in Suriname, Central America, and Mexico (no material seen).

Ecology:— Common; terrestrial, an aggressive, often scandent weed in cultivated areas, fallows, roadsides, especially those that have been burnt (the deeply buried rhizomes survive the fires), rare on sunny ridges, landslides, and steep, open slopes in natural areas; 550–2100 m, from sea level to 2200 m elsewhere.

Notes:— Schwartsburd et al. (2014) suggested this morphotype was endemic to eastern South America, occurring in northeastern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and eastern Brazil (as “ Pteridium arachnoideum subsp. arachnoideum ”). Further studies (Schwartsburd et al., unpubl. data) have shown that this morphotype also occurs elsewhere, although perhaps less commonly.