Serpocaulon sessilifolium(Desv.) A.R.Sm.

WFO wfo-0001276708 Accepted WFO 2026-06 4 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–d · 2 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 2 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Serpocaulon sessilifolium, photographed by Juan Carlos Caicedo Hernández
fig. a Juan Carlos Caicedo Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / 2019-07-05 / obs. 44162897
Serpocaulon sessilifolium, photographed by Andrés Ramírez-Barrera
fig. b Andrés Ramírez-Barrera, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 33381215
Serpocaulon sessilifolium, photographed by Juan Carlos Caicedo Hernández
fig. c Juan Carlos Caicedo Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 44162914
Serpocaulon sessilifolium, photographed by Juan Carlos Caicedo Hernández
fig. d Juan Carlos Caicedo Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 44162934

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 17 botanical countries

Regions where Serpocaulon sessilifolium is native: Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Panamá, Peru, Venezuela, Windward Is. BoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiJamaicaPanamáPeruVenezuela Leeward Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Serpocaulon sessilifolium, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Bolivia BOL SOUTHERN AMERICA
Brazil North BZN
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Panamá PAN
Peru PER
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 21 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Goniophlebium acuminatum Fée
  • Goniophlebium biauriculatum T.Moore
  • Goniophlebium cordatum (Kunze) T.Moore
  • Goniophlebium surucuchense (Hook.) T.Moore
  • Polypodium andinum H.Karst.
  • Polypodium antillense Maxon
  • Polypodium biauriculatum Hook.
  • Polypodium chacapoyense Hook.
  • Polypodium cordatum Kunze
  • Polypodium kunzeanum C.Chr.
  • Polypodium pseudofraternum A.C.Sm.
  • Polypodium remotum Baker
  • Polypodium rimbachii Sodiro
  • Polypodium sessilifolium Desv.
  • Polypodium sessilifolium var. lobulatum E.Fourn.
  • Polypodium sessilifolium var. surucuchensis Mille
  • Polypodium surucuchense Hook.
  • Polypodium uniseriale C.Chr.
  • Serpocaulon acuminatum (Fée) Christenh.
  • Serpocaulon antillense (Maxon) A.R.Sm.
  • Serpocaulon chacapoyense (Hook.) A.R.Sm.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.