Alsophila cuspidata (Kunze) D.S.Conant, J. Arnold Arbor.

Lehnert, Marcus & Kessler, Michael, 2018, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. XX. Cyatheaceae, Phytotaxa 334 (2), pp. 118-134 : 121

Alsophila cuspidata (Kunze) D.S.Conant, J. Arnold Arbor. 64: 371. 1983.

= Nephelea cuspidata (Kunze) R.M.Tryon, Contr. Gray Herb. 200: 40. 1970.

Range: — Costa Rica and Panama; Colombia to French Guiana and Bolivia (BE, CO, LP, SC); northern Brazil.

Ecology: —Common in the understory of lower montane forests, also in lowland rain forests and gallery forests; in Bolivia at 250–1500(1700) m. At its upper elevational limit in LP department, it grows preferentially in warm and damp microhabitats with high soil pH conditions ( Jones et al. 2011). It survives clearing of the surrounding forest, often responding with sprouting of multiple trunks from the base.

Notes: —Plants reported from Paraguay belong to A. sternbergii , a very similar species that may occur in the far east of Bolivia; see Weigand and Lehnert (2016) for a key. Alsophila cuspidata can be regarded as the lowland counterpart to A. erinacea , as both species show little overlap in elevation.