Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 27
Phenology: Collected in fertile condition in
February.
Status: Native, rare.
Distribution: Known in Puerto Rico from only
2. ODONTOSORIA
one collection from Monte Jayuya (Proctor
40130). Also in Hispaniola.
Public forest: Toro Negro.
Clambering ferns, terrestrial with short, slender, creeping rhizomes, covered with scales. Fronds
monomorphic, elongate, clambering, usually spiny; blades narrowly triangular to linear, 2-5-pinnate;
pinnae and pinnules forming a right angle with the axis or rachis; pinnules linear to flabellate. Sori in
marginal pockets, containing three sporangia; indusia absent. A neotropical genus of 12 species.
Key to the species of Odontosoria
1a. Rachis of the fronds spiny .......................................................................................... 1. O. aculeata
1b. Rachis of the fronds unarmed ................................................................................... 2. O. scandens
1. Odontosoria aculeata (L.) J. Sm., Cult. Ferns
67. 1857.
Fig. 7. A-C
BASIONYM: Adiantum aculeatum L.
SYNONYMS: Davallia aculeata (L.) Sm.
Davallia dumosa Sw.
Clambering fern. Rhizomes short, creeping,
densely covered with reddish brown scales at the
apex. Fronds 2-3-pinnate, glabrous, clambering,
up to 3 m in length; pinnae numerous, opposite,
20-40 cm long, ovate-deltoid; pinnules alternate;
secondary pinnules (2) 3 (5) times laciniate,
cuneiform, the apex usually revolute; rachis spiny.
Phenology: Probably found in fertile condition
throughout the year.
Status: Native, common.
Distribution: In secondary forests and moist
disturbed areas from sea level to 950 m. Also in
St. John, St. Thomas, and Tortola; Cuba and
Hispaniola.
Public forests: Carite, El Yunque, Guilarte,
Maricao, Río Abajo, and Toro Negro.
2. Odontosoria scandens (Desv.) C. Chr., Ind.
Fil. 354, 465. 1906.
Fig. 7. D-F
BASIONYM: Humata scandens Desv.
SYNONYM: Odontosoria uncinella (Kunze) Fée
Clambering fern. Rhizomes creeping, scarcely
elongate, densely covered with reddish brown
scales at the apex. Fronds 3-pinnate, glabrous,
clambering or twining, up to 2 m in length; pinnae
numerous, opposite or subopposite, 10-18 cm
long, lanceolate or oblong; pinnules subopposite
or alternate; secondary pinnules bilobed or
laciniate, cuneiform, coriaceous, the apex not
revolute; rachis yellowish, unarmed (rarely with
scattered small spines), smooth.
Phenology: Found in fertile condition
throughout the year.
Status: Native, uncommon.
Distribution: Sporadic along the Cordillera
Central, in moist secondary and disturbed forests.
Also in Cuba and Hispaniola.
Public forests: El Yunque, Guilarte, Maricao,
and Toro Negro.
Reference: Barcelona, J. F. 2000. Systematics of the genus Odontosoria sensu lato (Lindsaeaceae).
Doctoral thesis, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio