The genus Dryopteris in the Canary Islands and Azores and the description of two new tetraploid species

From studies in the field, botanic garden and herbarium we concluded that the following four species of Dryopteris grow on the Canary Islands: D. aemula (n = 41) so far found only on Gomera; D. pseudomas (n = 82, apogamous) similarly recorded only for Gomera; D. oligodonta (n = 41) the most common representative of the genus in the Islands is possibly an old Canary endemic related to some African species; D. guanchica a new tetraploid species ( n = 82) hitherto confused with D. austriaca (D. dilatata). On four islands of the Azores the following were found: D. aemula (n = 41); D. azorica (n = 41); D. pseudomas (n = 82, apogamous); and D. crispifolia a new tetraploid species ( n = 82) which is very distinct when living but in the dried pressed state is difficult to differentiate from D. austriaca and D. guanchica.