Tectaria estremerana
Tectaria estremerana
No Common Name
| Status | Endangered |
| Listed | June 9, 1993 |
| Family | Dryopteridaceae (Wood fern) |
| Description | Fern with a woody, erect rhizome that bears a dense tuft of erect, brown, glabrous, narrow scales and orange-brown stipes covered with pale jointed hairs. |
| Habitat | Moist shaded humus on and among limestone boulders on a wooded rocky hillside. |
| Threats | Limited population size and limited distribution. |
| Range | Puerto Rico |
Description
Tectaria estremerana has a woody, erect, 0.4-0.6 in (1.0-1.5 cm) thick rhizome. The rhizome's apex bears a dense tuft of erect, brown, glabrous, narrowly deltate-attenuate scales about 0.6 in (1.5 cm) long and 0.02-0.03 in (0.05-0.08 cm) wide at the base. This fern has several loosely fasciculate, 25.6-31.5 in (65-80 cm) long fronds. The light orange-brown stipes are shorter or nearly as long as the blades and are covered with pale jointed hairs. Scales up to 0.47 in (1.2 cm) long clothe the base. The blades are oblong-ovate, 13.8-16.1 in (35-41 cm) long, 7.9-9.8 in (20-25 cm) broad below the middle, and acuminate at the pinnatifid apex. The rachis, the costae, and the costules are softly puberulous with articulate hairs on both sides. This fern has three to four pairs of free pinnae, and has several distal divisions that are more or less adnate. The basal pair of pinnae is deltate-oblong, strongly unequilateral, 4.7-5.1 in (12-13 cm) long, coarsely lobate or subpinnatifid. The lobes are 0.3-0.5 in (0.9-1.3 cm) broad except for the larger basal basiocopic ones. Its tissue is firmly herbaceous and glabrous, but the margins are ciliate. The sori are located nearer to the midvein than the margin of the pinna-lobes.
Habitat
This species is found in moist shaded humus on and among limestone boulders on a wooded rocky hillside at an elevation of 820.2-984.2 ft (250-300 m).
Distribution
T. estremerana was described in 1984 from specimens collected at Barrio Esperanza, Arecibo, in the vicinity of the Arecibo Radio Telescope. This fern is known only from this site, where a total of 23 individual plants were found.
Threats
The site of this population is about 656 ft (200 m) south of the Arecibo Radio Telescope, and any expansion or development of the facilities may adversely affect the habitat of this endemic fern.
Conservation and Recovery
The one known population of T. estremerana is located about 656 ft (200 m) south of the Arecibo Radio Telescope, and any expansion or development of the facilities may adversely affect the habitat of this endemic fern.
Habitat modification, including indirect effects that alter the microclimatic conditions, may dramatically affect this species. These populations are vulnerable to damage caused by hurricanes.
Collecting for private collections could present a problem, especially after the publicity generated following this species' listing.
Research is needed to determine this species' life history and ecological requirements and to develop and refine propagation and transplant techniques. Surveys are needed to determine if other populations exist and to locate potential transplant sites.
Contacts
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Regional Office, Division of Endangered Species
1875 Century Blvd., Suite 200
Atlanta, Georgia 30345
http://southeast.fws.gov/
Caribbean Field Office
Ecological Services Field Office
P.O. Box 491
Boquerón, Puerto Rico 00622
Telephone: (809) 851-7297
Fax: (809) 851-7440
Reference
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 9 June 1993. "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Endangered or Threatened Status for Four Endemic Puerto Rican Ferns." Federal Register 58 (109): 32308-32311.