Pteris pallens (Swartz) Mettenius (1856: 54)

Zhang, Liang, Zhou, Xin-Mao, Gao, Xin-Fen & Zhang, Li-Bing, 2014, Pteris barklyae (Pteridaceae): A new combination and neotypication of Adiantum pallens for the fern flora of the Indian Ocean Islands, Phytotaxa 174 (2), pp. 116-118 : 116-117

Pteris pallens (Swartz) Mettenius (1856: 54) .

Basionym: Adiantum pallens Swartz (1801: 84) .

Type :— LA RÉUNION. Grand Etang, sentier menant du parking vers le point de vue, puis piste aux bords du lac, 21°05′44″S, 55°38′39″E, 557 m, forêt sempervirente de moyenne altitude, fortmente sécondarisée, 30 Mar 2005, T . Janssen & H . Schneider 2677 (neotype, P-00590797!, here designated!; isoneotype, BM) .

Homotypic synonyms:— Cheilanthes pallens (Swartz) Desvaux (1827: 306) . Ochropteris pallens (Swartz) J. Smith (1841: 158) . Cryptogramma pallens (Swartz) Prantl (1882: 414) .

Distribution: Madagascar, Mauritius, La Réunion.

N otes: — The authority of this species is often wrongly attributed to “Mettenius”. When Adiantum pallens was published ( Swartz 1801), no type material was cited in the protologue. Swartz’s major material and types are supposed to be deposited at S in addition to a number of other herbaria ( Stafleu & Cowan 1986: 116). We could not find any Swartz’s material of A. pallens at neither S nor some of the herbaria for Swartz’s material listed by Stafleu & Cowan (1986), e.g ., B, BM, E, FI, G, H, K, L, LINN, M, NY, P, UPS. A specimen at BR (RB-00633294) was assigned the name but this material was collected from Java, Indonesia and is assignable to Monachosorum henryi Christ (1898: 869) . A neotype of A. pallens is needed .

Later, Swartz (1806: 125) himself was uncertain about his species delimitation and cited material from Chusan [= Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, China] and a Pluketnet’s (1705) “most unsatisfactory” ( Hooker 1844: 55) plate, t. 403. f. 2 under his “ A. pallens ” while giving “Mauritii?” [= Mauritius] with a mark of doubt of its native country. Neither the Chusan material nor the Pluketnet’s plate is original material of this species, not only because they don’t belong to the species in current usage but also they were not cited in the 1801 protologue. When transferring this species to Ochropteris J. Smith (1841: 158) , Smith implied that at least one of the native areas of the species is Mauritius. Hooker (1844) gave Mauritius as its only distribution area. Mettenius (1856: 54) provided an illustration of this species but that illustration does not include any habit figures. Now we know that this species occurs in Madagascar, Mauritius, and Réunion ( Tardieu-Blot 1958; our citation of material below). Based on the discussion above, it seems more desirable to choose a specimen collected from Mauritius as the neotype of A. pallens . However, there is a gathering with duplicates at BM and P, T. Janssen & H. Schneider 2677, recently collected from the neighboring region of Mauritius, La Réunion, which is unambiguously assignable to this species and is the voucher specimen of three GenBank sequences: EF452160 (rbcL gene), EF452106 (atpA gene), and EF452044 (atpB gene). We here designate the sheet at P as the neotype and thus the one at BM is isoneotype.

Additional specimens examined: –– MADAGASCAR. Toamasina: Analanjirofo , 16°53 ′ S, 49°53 ′ E, A. C. J . Bernier 45 ( MO); no locality, 8–9 Oct 1846, M . Boivin 823 ( MO) . REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS. Valley above Ferney Sugar Estate, 200 m, 3 Apr 1974, D. Lorence 391 ( MO); Mt. Lagrave south flank, 650 m, 5 Apr 1974, D. Lorence 394 ( MO) . LA RÉUNION. Grand Etang , disturbed lower montane wet forest, 500 m, 15 Jul 1979, D. Lorence & A . Rolland 2761 ( MO); Sentier de la Grande Jument, 21°12′S, 55°29′E, S . Hennequin 280 (P-02432327!) .