Blechnum occidentale

wtesto on April 6, 2016 at 1:53 pm

This is a species of Blechnum in the Blechnum occidentale group. There are nine species in this group in southern and southeastern Brazil; the group was recently reviewed by Oliveira-Dittrich et al. (2015).

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Myriam Vandenberghe on April 6, 2016 at 2:50 pm

Thank you,
Forgive my ignorance, but are these several species in the Blechnum occidentale group, subspecies then?
My fern looks so different from the images of Blechnum occidentale on a web search..

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wtesto on April 8, 2016 at 4:16 pm

Hi Myriam,

They aren’t subspecies, but rather species that are related to Blechnum occidentale, which is a widespread and variable species.

Wes

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Myriam Vandenberghe on April 8, 2016 at 9:10 pm

Thank you Wes, as far as I think I understand I cannot call this fern Blechnum occidentale but a Blechnum sp. related to B.occidentale with not yet its own species name?
Thank you for your patience with a layman (in this case laywomen,lol) I have always loved ferns, they fascinate me but I don’t have the scientific background.
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- wtesto on April 10, 2016 at 2:09 pm
  
  Hi Myriam,
  
  You are right in saying that it is not B. occidentale, but related to it. However, it (almost certainly) is a described species with its own name. I just don’t know it. The in this group in Brazil were sorted out recently in a paper by Oliveira-Dittrich (2015) that is titled “The Blechnum occidentale (Blechnaceae, Polypodiopsida) species group in southern and southeastern Brazil.”
  
  The PhD thesis of the first author on that paper (which I don’t have access to) is available online; it also deals with Blechnum in Brazil.
  
  You can access it here (if you can’t let me know): https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vinicius_Dittrich2/publication/266559992_Estudos_taxonmicos_no_gnero_Blechnum_L._(Pterophyta_Blechnaceae)_para_as_regies_Sudeste_e_Sul_do_Brasil/links/5434aa8a0cf2dc341daf49e0.pdf
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  - wtesto on April 10, 2016 at 2:12 pm
    
    Looking at that thesis, maybe your plant is Blechnum austrobrasilianum? (Not to be confused with Blechnum brasiliense.)
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