Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

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Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
1. Family BLECHNACEAE
1. BLECHNUM
Terrestrial ferns, hemiepiphytic or less frequently epiphytic; rhizomes elongate, erect or scandent,
sometimes forming a caudex or stolon, densely covered with scales. Fronds sterile or fertile, monomorphic
or dimorphic; blades glabrous, pinnatisect, simple-pinnate or less frequently entire; veins free, bifurcated,
except for the minor veins on the fertile fronds; pinnae entire or serrate. Sori linear, parallel to the
midvein; indusia linear, opening toward the midvein. A cosmopolitan genus of about 180 species,
mostly in the Southern Hemisphere.
1. Blechnum fragile (Liebm.) C. V. Morton &
Lellinger, Amer. Fern J. 57: 68. 1967.
Fig. 5. A-C
BASIONYM: Lomaria fragilis Liebm.
Slightly woody fern, hemiepiphytic, scandent
by means of adventitious roots, attaining 2 m in
length. Rhizomes thick, 0.8-1.5 cm wide, densely
covered with subulate, slihtly undulate, ciliate,
ferruginous scales, 8-17 mm long. Fronds more
or less clustered, arching, ascendent or pendulous,
dimorphic; blades pinnate, membranaceous.
Sterile fronds 40-60 × 4-12 cm, with an elliptical
outline, the apex acuminate or caudate, the base
acute (the pinnae gradually reduced in size toward
the base); pinnae 25-75 pairs, oblong-deltate, the
apex acuminate, the margins revolute, sometimes
with minute callus-like projections; the upper
2. Family DAVALLIACEAE
1. OLEANDRA
surface dull, with a prominent midvein; the lower
surface dull, paler than the upper surface, with a
prominent midvein; stipe 10-18 cm long, blackish
or brown, with some vestigial pinnae. Fertile
fronds slightly smaller than the sterile ones;
pinnae 28-41 pairs, linear; indusia half as wide
as the pinna.
Phenology: Found in fertile condition
throughout the year.
Status: Native, common.
Distribution: In moist forests at middle and
upper elevations along the Cordillera Central and
the Sierra de Luquillo. Also in Jamaica, Cuba,
Hispaniola, southern Mexico, and Central
America.
Public Forests: Carite, El Yunque, Guilarte,
and Toro Negro.
Epiphytic or terrestrial ferns with very elongate rhizomes, erect, creeping, or climbing, sometimes
branched, densely covered with peltate scales. Fronds sterile or fertile, monomorphic; blades simple,
entire; veins free and parallel; stipe articulate. Sori circular, usually adjacent to the midvein; indusia
circular or reniform, peltate. A tropical genus of about 40 species.
1. Oleandra articulata (Sw.) C. Presl, Tent.
Pterid. 78. 1836.
Fig. 5. D-E
BASIONYM: Aspidium articulatum Sw.
SYNONYM: Oleandra nodosa (Willd.) C. Presl
Herbaceous fern, epiphytic or climbing by
adventitious roots, attaining 5 m in length.
Rhizomes slender, densely covered with
lanceolate, ferruginous scales. Fronds pendulous;
blades (15) 23-39 (42) × (2.5) 3-6 cm,
membranaceous, oblong, elliptical, or
sublanceolate, the apex acute, acuminate, or
caudate, the base acute or acuminate, sometimes
unequal, the margin crenulate or crenate, slightly
revolute and ferruginous; the upper surface shiny,