Revision of monotypic genus Llavea (Cryptogrammoideae: Pteridaceae)

Abstract

Llavea Lag. is a genus of Cryptogrammoideae (Pteridaceae), whose only species is distributed from southern United States and Mexico to Guatemala and Costa Rica, although it lives mainly in Mesoamerica, inhabiting preferably calcicolous habitats associated with forests and mountains. The genus is easily recognized by the presence of fertile leaves hemi-dimorphic, with the fertile apical portion with longer and narrower segments than the sterile ones, with strongly revolute margin, and rhizome scales bicolorous, shiny, and black. This paper presents a revision of the genus, nomenclatural issues are resolved, and and palynological morphological diversity are reviewed, as well as its distribution, phenology, ecology, and applications, based on field and herbarium specimens studies. In addition, two names related to Llavea, Allosorus karwinskii Kunze and Ceratodactylis osmundioides J. Sm., were lectotypified.

Keywords

• allosorus karwinskii
• ceratodactylis osmundioides
• cryptogrammoideae
• ferns
• llavea cordifolia
• palynology
• pteridaceae
• sem
• spores
• taxonomy