Amauropelta subg. Nibaa S.E. Fawc. & A.R. Sm.

Fawcett, Susan & Smith, Alan R., 2021, A Generic Classification of the Thelypteridaceae, Fort Worth, Texas, USA: BRIT Press : 27

Amauropelta subg. Nibaa S.E. Fawc. & A.R. Sm. , subg. nov.

— TYPE: Amauropelta noveboracensis (L.) S. E. Fawc. & A. R. Sm. [= Polypodium noveboracense L., Sp. Pl.2:1091.1753.]— Thelypteris noveboracensis (L.) Nieuwl.( Figs. 6B, 6C ).

Etymology.— S /he sleeps, is asleep, in Anishinaabemowin ( Ojibwe Peoples Dictionary 2015), a language of the first peoples of the Great Lakes region, where the type species occurs. The name refers to the winter-deciduous habit, which distinguishes it from its tropical evergreen sister clade, subg. Amauropelta .

Diagnosis. —Plants of temperate North America, winter-deciduous, with long-creeping rhizomes ( Fig. 6C ), often forming large colonies, proximal pinnae gradually reduced, x = 27. The two species of Amauropelta subg. Nibaa most closely resemble the Old World Amauropelta subg. Venus , (x = 31), but may be distinguished by glands yellow to colorless (vs. amber resinous orange-yellow to reddish).

Biogeography and ecology. —The two species are restricted to temperate North America, one to northeastern deciduous forests of the U.S.A. and Canada, and the other to lower montane habitats of the western cordillera. They occur in seasonally snowy environments, in mesic to moist forest understories or in seepy mountain meadows.

Figures

FIG. 6. A. Plesioneuron hopeanum, Fawcett 613 (VT),pinna lobes,adaxial view.Amauropelta (subg.Nibaa) noveboracensis, Fawcett 567 (MICH,VT),B. pinna-lobes, adaxial view.C.habit.D. Thelypterispalustris,Fawcett 569 (VT),pinna lobes abaxial view.