BARRO COLORADO ISLAND
INTRODUCTION 63 INTRODUCTION 63
9. CYATHEACEAE
8o
PTEROPHYTA6-30(40) cm long, often with a long leafless tail at apex, the tail sometimes rooting and producing another plant;
petiole and rachis with moderate to sparse, long, thread- like scales; pinnae lanceolate-oblong, blunt to obtuse at apex, obtuse to truncate or subcordate at base (sterile pinnae imbricate at base), 3-6 cm long, 1-1.5 cm wide, minutely and sharply serrate, glabrous except on midrib below, with many lateral, 1-4-forked veins; fertile leaflets somewhat narrower and more widely spaced along rachis.
Sori along margin except very near apex; indusium ± tubular, stalked; receptacle exserted, about as long as tube. Croat 5046.
Occasional, in ravines on steep banks.
Throughout the American tropics. In Panama, known only from tropical moist forest in the Canal Zone and Panama and from tropical wet forest in Panama.
9-
CYATHEACEAE/NEPHELEA 8IKEY TO THE SPECIES OF CYATHEACEAE
Leaves 1-pinnate Metaxya rostrata (Willd.) Presl Leaves 2- or 3-pinnate-pinnatifid:
Sori along margins of pinnatifid lobes of leaflets; leaflets nearly glabrous; lobes divided about halfway to midrib, often 8 mm or more broad Cnemidaria petiolata (Hook.) Copel.
Sori clustered at base of lobes or covering most of the lower surface; leaflets with at least the midrib pubescent; lobes divided nearly to base, usually less than 3 mm wide:
Leaflets pubescent over all of upper surface with sparse, conspicuous, long trichomes; pubes- cence of rachis and pinnular rachis conspicuous, erect, 1-3 mm long Trichopteris trichiata (Max.) Tryon Leaflets glabrous on upper surface or with few trichomes on midrib of segments; pubescence
of rachis and pinnular rachis inconspicuous, appressed or very sparse:
Petiole, rachis, and pinnular rachis armed with spines; leaflets lacking stellate trichomes on lower surface; sori exindusiate Trichopteris microdonta (Desv.) Tryon Petiole, rachis, and pinnular rachis unarmed; leaflets bearing purplish stellate trichomes on
lower surface; sori indusiate Nephelea cuspidata (Kunze) Tryon
CNEiWIDARIA Presl
Cnemidaria petiolata (Hook.) Copel., Gen. Fil.
97. 1947
Hemitelia petiolata Hook.
Small, spiny tree fern, 1.5-3.5 m tall, often fertile when trunk is still very short; trunk to 5 cm diam, conspicu- ously ribbed and with persistent petiole bases much of its length; leaf scars prominent, the cluster of new leaf crosiers densely scaly. Juvenile plants bearing leaves 1-pinnate, the leaflets with rounded, sharply serrate lobes;
mature plants bearing leaves 2-pinnate-pinnatifid, to ca 2 m long, arch-ascending; petioles 50-75 cm long, with lanceolate-linear, brown to reddish-brown scales ca 1 cm long on upper side usually near base, armed throughout but especially on lower side with short spines to ca 5 mm long; rachis pubescent with stifi^ trichomes on upper sur- face, sometimes also on upper midrib of leaflets; leaflets usually 5-15 cm long, 1-3 cm wide at base, tapering to acuminate apex, ± regularly lobed approximately half- way to midrib, less so near apex, nearly glabrous; upper leaflets reduced, ultimately confluent. Sori marginal, round, bordering entire leaflet, at least part of the cup- shaped indusium persisting. Croat 4143.
Common in the forest, especially in ravines. May be found in fertile condition throughout the year.
Panama and Colombia. In Panama, common in some areas of tropical moist forest on the Atlantic slope at least in the Canal Zone, Colon, and San Bias; known also from tropical moist forest in Panama and tropical wet forest in Colon and along the Darien-San Bias border.
See Figs. 8 and 9.
METAXYA Presl
Metaxya rostrata (H. & B. ex Willd.) Presl, Tent.
Pterid. 60.1836 Ahophila rostrata Mart.
Terrestrial, lacking a trunk; rhizome with a single si- phonostele, densely pubescent with long yellowish tri-
chomes (also a few at base of petiole). Leaves 1-pinnate, to ca 2 m long but arch-ascending, the apex usually droop- ing; petioles ca 50 cm long; rachis yellowish, dull; leaflets linear-oblong, caudate-acuminate, acute to obtuse and sometimes inequilateral at base, 10-32 cm long, 2-3.5 cm wide, the veins free or forked once usually near midrib, the margin entire except crenate near apex. Sori + round, on veins in an irregular pattern on either side of midrib.
Croat 9527.
Rare, seen only twice; probably restricted to ravines.
Apparently fertile throughout the year.
Easily confused in sterile condition with Saccoloma elegans (10. Polypodiaceae), which has marginal sori, but distinguished by having the margins entire (except near apex), the veins rarely forked (except near base), the rachis yellowish and dull, and the rhizome clothed with dense yellow trichomes.
Guatemala to Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil; West Indies.
In Panama, known from tropical moist forest on the Atlantic slope in the Canal Zone, Bocas del Toro, and Colon; known also from tropical moist and premontane wet forests in Panama.
See Fig. 10.
NEPHELEA Tryon
Nephelea cuspidata (Kunze) Tryon, Contr. Gray Herb.
200:40. 1970
Cyathea punctifera H. Christ
Graceful tree fern, to 7(15) m tall; trunk to 20(40) cm diam; trunk and petioles with a few spines to 1 cm long, the spines embedded in a dense layer of irregularly serrate scales and adventitious roots. Leaves 2-pinnate-pinnatifid, to ca 3 m long and 1.5 m or more wide; petiole and rachis atropurpureous, with short, dense, almost granular scales (easily scraped off) especially on underside, the petiole to 50 cm long; pinnular rachis and costules densely pubes- cent with purplish ascending trichomes; pinnae to ca 1 m long and 30 cm wide; leaflets pinnatifid to near midrib, to 11.5(15) cm long and to 2.5(3.5) cm wide, tapered to a
mm
Fig. 8. Cnemidaria petiolata
Fig. 9. Cnemidaria petiolata
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Fig. 10. Metaxya rostrata
Fig. 11. Nepheka cuspidata
84
PTEROPHYTAlong, bluntly acuminate apex, the lobes 2-3 mm wide, somewhat falcate, entire to minutely crenate; veins mostly 1-forked near base, the major veins sparsely pubescent beneath with purplish, mostly stellate scales. Sori round, usually 4-6, clustered in proximal half of lobes; indusium globose to urn-shaped, dark brown, completely enclosing sporangia, breaking into irregular segments at maturity, deciduous to persistent, scarious. Croat 6529.
Rare on the island, restricted to deep ravines. Seasonal behavior undetermined. Seen fertile in April, August, and September.
Nicaragua to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Brazil. In Panama, known only from tropical moist forest on BCI and in Darien.
See Fig. 11.
TRICHOPTERIS Presl
Trichopteris microdonta (Desv.) Tryon, Contr. Gray Herb. 200:46. 1970
Akophila microdonta Desv.
Tree fern, 1-5 m tall, slender, the trunk only a few cm diam. Leaves few, 2-pinnate-pinnatifid; petioles to ca 1 m long, lustrous, purplish near base, becoming light brown, glabrate, sparsely scaly near base and bearing numerous distant, narrowly conical spines, these curved and to 1 cm long; scales to ca 1.5 cm long and 2 mm wide, brown, very long-caudate-acuminate; leaves ovate-oblong, abruptly acuminate, to 1.5 m long and 1.2 m broad, the primary rachis brown or yellowish-brown, armed throughout;
pinnae petiolate, narrowly oblong, acuminate, 30-60 cm long, 10-25 cm wide; secondary rachis yellowish-strigose above, thinly scurfy-hirtellous below (glabrate in age), distantly aculeate with spines to ca 4 mm long; leaflets ± sessile, ± oblong, long-attenuate, 5-13 cm long, 1.5-3 cm wide, the costa densely yellowish-strigose above, scurfy- hirtellous and with a few minute, mostly caducous scales below, the segments of 19-25 pairs, linear, ± acute, 8-18 mm long, 2-4(5) mm wide, crenate-serrate, the costules distantly hispid above, thinly scurfy-hirtellous below. Sori in 6-11 pairs, the paraphyses very numerous, equaling sporangia. Kenoyer 7, Munch s.n.
Apparently rare, in ravines; more common elsewhere in the Canal Zone.
Mexico to Peru and Brazil, principally at low eleva- tions; West Indies (Isle of Pines). In Panama, known only from tropical moist forest in the Canal Zone.
Trichopteris trichiata (Max.) Tryon, Contr. Gray Herb. 200:44. 1970
Akophila trichiata Max.
Graceful tree fern, to 3.5 m tall. Leaves 2- or 3-pinnate- pinnatifid on lower parts of large leaves, to 3.5 m long and 2 m wide at the middle; petioles densely pubescent with moderately stifli' trichomes, sparsely armed throughout with short spines; rachis with short, soft, villous pubes- cence interspersed with long, stiff, jointed trichomes;
pinnae lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 50-90 cm long.
to 30 cm wide, abruptly acuminate and confluent toward apex; leaflets sessile, linear-lanceolate, attenuate-caudate, pinnatifid to beyond the middle, mostly to 9 (15) cm long, to 2 cm wide, both surfaces pubescent especially on veins, the segments 5-10 mm long, 1.5-3 mm wide, usually bi- dentate at apex. Sori exindusiate, round, on veinlets on proximal two-thirds of lobes, consisting of moderately few sporangia; paraphyses few, scarcely exceeding spo- rangia. Croat 11729.
Apparently rare; collected once on Gross Point Penin- sula {Croat 11729) and twice elsewhere by Shattuck {740,1149). Probably fertile throughout the year.
The generic name Trichipteris, used by some authors, is an orthographic error.
Costa Rica to Ecuador and Venezuela, from near sea level in Costa Rica to ca 1,000 m in Ecuador. In Panama, known from tropical moist forest in the Canal Zone, Panama, and Darien and from premontane wet forest in the Canal Zone and Panama.