A Morphometric Analysis of Serpocaulon gilliesii (Polypodiaceae) Reveals a New Species for Yungas Montane Forest, S. australe

DAVID SANÍN; ALEXANDRE SALINO; JUAN C. OSPINA; INGRIDY OLIVEIRA MOURA

SYSTEMATIC BOTANY

AMER SOC PLANT TAXONOMISTS

Lugar: Laramie; Año: 2019 p. 1 - 11

0363-6445

new species, Serpocaulon australe, from the Yungas Montane Forest of Argentina and Bolivia, is described based on a reinterpretationof the name S. gilliesii. The new species is similar to S. lasiopus, but can be distinguished by its rhizome scales with entire margins andacute-acuminate apices, glabrous fronds with few axillary scales in the segments, sori absent in the apex of the segments, and ascending segments.We investigated the taxonomic relationships among these similar species of Serpocaulon using morphoanatomical characters of the sporophyte andecological preferences. Morphometric analyses, clustering, and principal coordinate analyses (PCoA), were used to scrutinize the forming ofhierarchical non-overlapping groups strictly according to degree of morphological similarity. Twenty-four characters were scored for 65 specimensfrom herbaria (including type material) and for new collections from our fieldwork.We discuss the taxonomic status of S. gilliesii and S. lasiopus andpresent nomenclature notes for S. gilliesii. Also, some misidentified herbaria collections have led to the discovery of a Serpocaulon species (S.lasiopus), a new record for the Argentinian flora. Finally, a revised key to the pinnatisect species of Serpocaulon in Argentina is provided.