PHYLOGENETIC SEGREGATION OF THE CHEILANTHES GERANIIFOLIA GROUP (PTERIDACEAE) FROM CHEILANTHES S.S. OF SOUTH AMERICA

PONCE MÓNICA; SCATAGLINI, M. AMALIA

Congreso; XII Congreso Latinoamericano de Botánica; 2018

Sociedad Latinoamericana de Botánica

The phylogenetic analysis of cheilanthoid ferns based on molecular characters led to new delimitations within the neotropical clades. In the present study we discuss the phylogenetic position of Cheilanthes species previously known as Cheilanthes geraniifolia group. Morphological analysis of specimens of Cheilanthes bradei, C. eriophora, C. geraniifolia, and C. goyazensis housed in BHCB, G, HAS, ICN, K, NY, P, PACA, SI, SP and US was done. The four species share: creeping rhizomes, bicolored scales bluntly dentate, pedate lamina, pinnatifid to pinnate-pinnatifid, lanose indumentum on the petiole and lamina, and 32 large or 64 small spores per sporangium. Sequences of rbcL and trnL-F plastid markers for three species of the Cheilanthes geraniifolia group were analyzed along with 33 South American species and a selection of cheilanthoid species included in previous phylogenies. these three species grouped in a strongly supported clade, included in the Adiantopsis-Doryopteris clade of the hemionitids. The proposed segregation of the Cheilanthes geraniifolia group from Cheilanthes s.s. is based on the results of the molecular phylogeny and the unique combination of the morphological features shared by the four species mentioned, with further studies possibly assigning them to another genus. These species can be found throughout Brazilian and Guiana Massif to Bolivia and Paraguay, in seasonal forests and scrublands, in rocky habitats in crevices, on flagstone, sandstone or limestone substrates.