| Description: |
Meniscium arborescens Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd., Sp. Pl. 5: 133. 1810. Range:— Cuba, Dominican Republic; southern Mexico to Bolivia (PA), Brazil, and Paraguay. Ecology:— Rare; terrestrial in humid forests; 220 m, to ca. 800 m elsewhere. Notes:— Fernandes & Salino (2020) cited a specimen from Pando, a new record for Bolivia: Manuripi, 220 m, Jimenez 1967 (NY, UC). This specimen had previously been identified by us as M. longifolium. It is a problematic specimen, not typical M. arborescens, but not M. longifolium either; pending further collections, we keep it as M. arborescens. [Meniscium falcatum Liebm., Kongel. Danske Vidensk. Selsk. Skr., Naturvidensk. Math. Afd., ser. 5(1): 183 (seors. 31). 1849. = Thelypteris falcata (Liebm.) R.M. Tryon, Rhodora 69(777): 6. 1967] Notes:— This widespread species was not included for Bolivia by Smith & Kessler (2017). However, Fernandes & Salino (2020) cited it from Cuba, southern Mexico to Panama, and Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia, based on seven Bolivian specimens: Beck 442 (UC), Eberhardt 236 (UC), Jiménez & Gallego 1047 (UC), Kessler 9703 (UC), Kessler 11197 (UC), and “ without collector s.n.” (UC) [should be Krukoff 11128]. However, all of these appear to us to be typical M. pachysorum, as determined and cited by Fernandes (2015). This species is usually readily distinguishable from M. falcatum by the long-petiolulate pinnae that are rounded at the base, these pinnae very broad (to 5 cm) and more elliptic than lanceolate (as in M. falcatum), and very large fronds, to 4.5 m – the key characters distinguishing M. pachysorum from M. falcatum (Fernandes and Salino 2020). In fact, Krukoff 11128 (UC) was cited in 2020 as M. falcata, “ without collector, s.n.”; specimens with this same number (from F, GH, K, MO, and NY) were cited by Fernandes & Salino (2020) as M. pachysorum. As a consequence of these possible changes of mind, resulting confusion, and our understanding of the taxonomic differences, we conclude that true M. falcatum does not occur in ... |