Elaphoglossum fendleri (Dryopteridaceae), a new species of Elaphoglossum sect. Lepidoglossa from Venezuela, and the identity of Elaphoglossum ornatum

Elaphoglossum fendleri, a new species from the cloud forests of Venezuela, is here described and illustrated. The type specimens were collected by Augustus Fendler ca. 160 years ago but had gone unnoticed since then. Some authors have confused it with E. ornatum, a subulate-scaled species that is restricted to the Venezuelan Andes. Elaphoglossum fendleri is also endemic to Venezuela, but it is known only from the Coastal Cordillera and Sierra de San Luis. It is characterized by short petioles densely covered with orangish, flattish, setose-margined scales; oblanceolate laminae with acute apices and truncate bases; and a fringe of laciniate scales along the sterile laminar margins. We provide comments, line drawings, SEM images, and a map of geographic distribution that will help to distinguish the two species.