Phlegmariurus aqualupianus B. Ollgaard 2012

2. Phlegmariurus aqualupianus (Spring) B. Øllgaard (2012a: 480).

— Lycopodium aqualupianum Spring (1841: 518).— Urostachys aqualupianus (Spring) Herter (1923: 166).— Huperzia aqualupiana (Spring) Rothmaler (1944: 62). Type:— GUADELOUPE: L’Herminier s.n., 1862 (LG lectotype, designated by Badré (1983: 4); BM, K, P isolectotypes).—Fig. 2

Plants pendulous, flaccid, 3–4 times dichotomous. Stems stramineous, angular, 15–50 cm long, thin, usually less than 1 mm thick excluding leaves. Shoots heterophyllous, the proximal divisions with wide expanded leaves, the distal divisions abruptly narrowed, with small imbricate leaves. Proximal expanded divisions with uniform leaves, 10–17 mm wide including the leaves, sometimes slightly tapering distally, usually continuously overlapping (pressed). Expanded leaves usually decussate (sometimes in alternating whorls of 3), forming 4(–6) longitudinal rows, regularly inserted, ascending to patent, softy herbaceous, ovate to elliptic-oblong, 6–11 × 2.8–4 mm, slightly apiculate, with decurrent base. Constricted divisions quadrangular, with extensive sterile zones proximally. Leaves of constricted divisions imbricate, regularly decussate, ovate, carinate and usually long-acuminate, 3–4.5 × 1.5 mm. Sporangia ca. 1 mm wide, concealed by sporophyll bases.

­­­ Distribution:— Greater and Lesser Antilles, Panamá, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil. This is the first record of this species in Mesoamerica/ Panamá.

­­­ Habitats:— Epiphytic in wet premontane and cloud forest, 1750 m elev.

­­­ Notes:— This species is related to Phlegmariurus ericifolius (C. Presl) B.Øllgaard (Ecuador to Bolivia) and P. dichaeoides. Phlegmariurus ericifolius can usually be distinguished by its narrower, more acute expanded leaves in whorls of 3, while P. aqualupianus usually has ovate, subacute to obtuse, usually decussate expanded leaves.

­­­ Specimen­­­studied:­­­Bocas­­­del­­­Toro: La Plata del Cedro, ridgetop, 1750 m elev., Monro & Alfaro 4381 (MO, PMA).