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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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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