Pecluma dulcis

Pecluma dulcis View in CoL (Poir. in Lam.) F.C.Assis & Salino, Phytotaxa 247(4): 242. 2016 (as P. dulce ).

= Polypodium dulce Poir. , in Lam., Encycl. 5: 523. 1804.

= Polypodium sororium Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd., Sp. Pl. , ed. 4 [Willdenow], 5: 191. 1810.

Range: —Antilles; Mexico to the Guianas and Bolivia (BE, CO, LP).

Ecology: —Fairly common; terrestrial and saxicolous, rarely epiphytic, in humid forests; often near streams; 700–1600(2850) m.

Notes: —May be confused with Serpocaulon funckii , which may also have free veins, but that species has much thinner rhizomes with sparse, small scales. From molecular analyses ( Schneider et al. 2004, Otto et al. 2009, Assis et al. 2016), P. dulcis , and several related species in Mexico and Mesoamerica, are more closely related to Pecluma than to true Polypodium .

Pecluma eurybasis (C.Chr.) M.G.Price, Amer. Fern J. View in CoL 73(3): 115. 1983, var. glabrescens (Rosenst.) Lellinger, Amer. Fern. J. View in CoL 74(2): 59. 1984.

= Polypodium lachniferum Hieron. var. glabrescens Rosenst., Repert. View in CoL Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 11: 57. 1912.

= Polypodium lachniferum Hieron. var. glabrescens Rosenst. f. incurvatum Rosenst., Repert. View in CoL Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 11: 57. 1912.

= Polypodium eurybasis C.Chr. var. glabrescens (Rosenst.) A.M.Evans, Ann. View in CoL Missouri Bot. Gard. 55: 244. 1969.

Range: — Costa Rica; Venezuela to Bolivia (CO, LP).

Ecology: —Common; terrestrial, less commonly epiphytic or on rocks, in humid forests and along streams; 1800– 3300 m.

Notes: —Some specimens are intermediate towards P. divaricata , which has the lowermost pinnae usually>1/2 the length of the longest pinnae and generally larger fronds, and distinctions between these two taxa are unclear. Pecluma eurybasis is usually divided into three varieties; two of these occur in Bolivia, and the other is restricted to the Caribbean region and Venezuela; however, this separation needs re-examination.

Pecluma eurybasis (C.Chr.) M.G.Price, Amer. Fern J. View in CoL 73(3): 114. 1983, var. villosa (A.M.Evans) Lellinger, Amer. Fern J. View in CoL 74(2): 59. 1984.

= Polypodium eurybasis C.Chr. var. villosa A.M.Evans, Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 55: 245. 1969.

Range: — Panama; Venezuela to Bolivia (CO, LP, SC).

Ecology: —Common; epiphytic, less commonly terrestrial, rarely on rocks, in humid forests; to 1700–3000 m.

Notes: —Differs from var. glabrescens by a dense cover of hairs 0.2–0.5 mm long on rachises ( vs. glabrous to sparsely hairy, hairs 0.2–0.3 mm long) and entire ( vs. inconspicuously fimbriate) rhizome scales. The pinna margins are usually more crenulate than in var. glabrescens .