Background and Aims:  The genus Phanerophlebia has been considered as enigmatic among pteridologists. Previous reviews have delimited a total of eight species, only two of which had been reported for Honduras. The objective of this study is to review the species in Honduras and to examine their ecology, habitat, and distribution.Methods: Between March 2018 and February 2019, we reviewed herbarium specimens of Phanerophlebia, and made trips and new collections from previously reported locations in order to understand better the ecology, habitat, and distribution of the Honduran species.Key results: We document the first record for Honduras of Phanerophlebia macrosora and the rare hybrid P. juglandifolia × macrosora. A dichotomous key was constructed for the species reported for the country. Conclusions: Molecular studies of the Honduran species are needed, as well as the effective conservation of the areas where they can be found. Revisions of pteridophytes groups and additional surveys are still necessary to better understand the true diversity of Honduras.

Honduras is one of the least botanically studied countries in Central America. Most of the scientific botanical information for Honduras is housed in globally distributed herbaria, an often-under-used resource. A recently published checklist of ferns and lycopods from Honduras indicated that for the 713 taxa, often few distribution data are available and that we still do not know where fern and lycopod collections have taken place in the past. Therefore, the aims of this work were to (1) bring together for the first time a comprehensive inventory of fern and lycopod records from international herbaria and to (2) identify spatial, temporal and collector biases of these collections. Published and unpublished herbarium inventories of ferns and lycopod records were accessed from 2212 global herbaria. Of these, 39 hosted Honduran fern and lycopod collections. The final database included 22 194 herbarium records. Spatial and idiosyncratic collection biases are shown, with collections hotspots in areas such the Department of Francisco Morazán near the TEFH and Escuela Agrícola Panamericana (EAP) herbaria, in Celaque National Park near the city of San Pedro Sula and Tela and Lancetilla Botanical Garden. This unique database deposited at EAP, TEFH, LIV and Edge Hill University will enable Hondurans to share information to support the protection, restoration and sustainable use of their ecosystems.