Asplenium cuspidatum Lam., Encycl.

Kessler, Michael & Smith, Alan R., 2018, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. XXIX. Aspleniaceae, Phytotaxa 344 (3), pp. 259-280 : 259-280

Asplenium cuspidatum Lam., Encycl. 2: 310. 1786.

= A. rigidum Sw., Kongl. Vetensk. Acad. Handl. 1817 (1): 68. 1817.

Range:— Mexico to Bolivia (BE, CH, CO, LP, SC, TA) and Brazil.

Ecology:— Very common; epiphytic and terrestrial, rarely saxicolous, in humid forests; (200)1500–3000(3450) m. Shows no obvious adaptations to drought and typically occurs in the most shaded parts of the canopy and understory ( Hietz & Briones 1998). However, under drought stress, plants produce secondary compounds as protection against high light levels ( Tausz et al. 2001).

Notes:— Closely related to A. auritum , and specimens with less dissected pinnae approach that species but generally have narrowly winged rachises (vs. broadly winged in A. auritum ). Specimens with undivided acroscopic basal pinna lobes are sometimes called A. rigidum Sw. , but at least in Bolivia there is clinal variation between undivided and deeply cleft lobes.