[RESEARCH NOTE]

Philippine Journal of Science
RESEARCH NOTE
152 (4): 1363-1370, August 2023
ISSN 0031 – 7683
Date Received: 14 Feb 2023

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Notes
on Philippine Ferns. VI. Asplenium lepturus and A. contiguum
(Polypodiales, Aspleniaceae), One or Two Species?

Arthur Edward Salgado*

1900 W. Olney Ave., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19141 United States of America

*Corresponding author: esalgado@cbu.edu

[Download]
Salgado AE. 2023. Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Notes on Philippine Ferns. VI. Asplenium lepturus
and A. contiguum (Polypodiales, Aspleniaceae), One or Two Species? Philipp J Sci 152(4): 1363–1370.
https://doi.org/10.56899/152.04.08

 

 

ABSTRACT

The present study clarifies the existing confusion between the Southeast Asian–Malesian Asplenium lepturus and the Hawaiian A. contiguum. The geographical range of both species is reported. Eleven (11) European and North American herbaria were visited by the author, and virtual collections of eight more herbaria were consulted. A morphological comparison of the size, shape, color, and dissection of the rhizome, scales, fronds, pinnae, apical segment, and sori was studied using light and dissecting microscopes. A. lepturus and A. contiguum are different species that can be distinguished by the size of the frond of fully developed plants, their different scales, the dentation of the pinna margin, the shape and length of the pinna apex, and sori position. A. lepturus is reported as a new Hawaiian species different from A. contiguum. A. lepturus is found in the Hawaiian Archipelago, south China, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, and Sulawesi. A. contiguum is endemic in the Hawaiian Archipelago.