Common Vines & Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Dicranopteris pectinata (Willd.) Underw., Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 34: 260. 1907.

Fig. 8. F-G

Basionym: Mertensia pectinata Willd.

Terrestrial fern. Rhizomes creeping, scabrous, light brown, with deciduous articulate hairs. Fronds clambering or decumbent, 1-2 m long, forming a dense thicket difficult to penetrate; pinnae unequally bifurcate, with a tuft of rigid, reddish trichomes in the area of bifurcation, but without accessory pinnae or these only in the primary bifurcations; axes cylindrical and brittle, primary rachis proleptic, with sympodial growth, tertiary rachis with two narrow longitudinal keels; leaf segments oblong-deltoid, the secondary venation 3-5 times bifurcate, the apex retuse, the margins revolute; lower surface glaucous, glabrous, or sometimes stellate-pubescent. Sori yellowish, 0.5-0.7 mm in diameter.

Phenology: Probably found in fertile condition throughout the year.

Status: Native, very common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 7120; 9333; 9372; Britton, N.L. 584; Cowgill 630; Cowles, H.T. 398; Goll, G.P. 438; 938; Proctor, G.R. 39503; 41133; Sintenis, P. 1768; Underwood, L.M. 266.
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Gleichenia bifida (Willd.) Spreng., Syst. Veg. ed. 16, 4: 27. 1827.

Fig. 9. A-C

Basionym: Mertensia bifida Willd.

Terrestrial fern. Rhizomes creeping, reddish brown, with attenuate, ciliate scales at the apex. Fronds clambering or decumbent, 1-2 m in length, forming a dense thicket difficult to penetrate; pinnae 3 times bifurcate, with small accessory pinnae and densely covered with scales in the bifurcation; rachis cylindrical, those of the young pinnae covered with pale brown ciliate scales; primary rachis with proleptic indeterminate growth, the secondary ones short; terminal pinnae 20-35 × 3-5 cm, the midvein densely covered with ferruginous scales on the lower surface; secondary pinnules oblong-deltoid, the apex obtuse; upper surface glabrous; lower surface densely covered with ferruginous scales. Sori ferruginous.

Phenology: Probably found in fertile condition throughout the year.

Status: Native, very common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 9322; 9373; 9447; 10218; 10524; Britton, N.L. 503; 5389; 6561; 7573; Cowles, H.T. 399; Eggers, B. 1202; Gaibee; Goll, G.P. 413; 435; 929; Hioram, B. 283; Proctor, G.R. 39418; Shafer, J.A. 3422; Sintenis, P. 429; 1769; 3988; Stimson 1282; Underwood, L.M. 288; 330; Webster, G.L. 8627.
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Lomariopsis sorbifolia (L.) Fée, Mém. Foug. 2: 69. 1845.

Fig. 10. E

Basionym: Acrostichum sorbifolium L.

Terrestrial fern, 1-1.5 m long. Rhizomes scandent by aerial roots, light brown, slightly compressed or obtusely triangular, with longitudinal keels, sometimes sulcate, 5-10 mm wide, densely covered with light brown, narrowly lanceolate, ciliate, imbricate scales, 8-12 mm long. Sterile fronds 25-115 cm long; stipes 5-30 cm long, light brown, sulcate, with scattered scales; rachis narrowly winged; pinnae 30-52, alternate or subopposite, ovate to lanceolate, chartaceous, 6-13 × 1.5-2.3 cm, with the midvein prominent on both surfaces, the apex long-acuminate to caudate, the base cuneate, equilateral, the margins finely serrate, slightly revolute; lower surface with the secondary venation conspicuous, parallel, free. Fertile fronds smaller than the sterile ones; pinnae linear, 4-8.5 × 3-5 mm, the apex obtuse, the base cuneate; lower surface densely covered with dark brown sporangia.

Phenology:Collected in fertile condition from May to November.

Status: Native, very common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 10816; Sintenis, P. 1762.
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Dicranopteris flexuosa (Schrad.) Underw., Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 34: 254. 1907.

Fig. 8. A-E

Basionym: Mertensia flexuosa Schrad.

Synonym: Gleichenia flexuosa (Schrad.) Mett.

Terrestrial fern. Rhizomes creeping, with deciduous setose trichomes. Fronds clambering or decumbent, 1-2 m long, forming a dense thicket difficult to penetrate; pinnae 4 times bifurcate, with a pair of accessory pinnae of reduced size and a tuft of rigid, reddish trichomes in the area of bifurcation; rachis cylindrical and brittle, the primary rachis with proleptic indeterminate growth, the secondary or tertiary rachis of determinate growth, the latter angular; secondary pinnules oblong-deltoid to linear, glabrous, the secondary venation 2-4 times bifurcate, the apex obtuse, the margins revolute; lower surface pale green, glabrous. Sori reddish brown, 0.2-0.4 mm in diameter.

Phenology: Probably found in fertile condition throughout the year.

Status: Native, very common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 9427; 9448; Britton, N.L. 8126; Heller, A.A. 4353; Hioram, B. 329; Proctor, G.R. 39416; 41104; 41158; Stevenson, J.A. 227; 3259; Underwood, L.M. 1286.
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