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Selaginella moraniana (Selaginellaceae – Lycopodiophyta): A new articulate species with puberulent lateral leaves from northwestern South America

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Abstract

Selaginella moraniana, a new articulate species from Colombia and Ecuador is described and illustrated, and a conservation assessment is provided. The species is terrestrial or epipetric on riverbanks, often growing as a rheophyte, at low to mid elevations in primary and secondary tropical humid forests. It is morphologically related to S. atirrensis and S. lingulata, from which it differs by the margins of the median and axillary leaves on both leaf surfaces, as well as the acroscopic margin above and both margins below in lateral leaves, each continuously bordered by a whitish-hyaline band, and by the lateral leaves submarginally to marginally puberulent, with short, tooth-like projections or short, stiff hairs, along the basiscopic margin and near the apex on the upper leaf surface.

Resumen

Selaginella moraniana, una nueva especie articulada de Colombia y Ecuador es descrita e ilustrada y se evalúa a su estado de conservación. La especie es terrestre o epipétrica en los márgenes de los ríos, siendo a menudo una planta reófita, y se encuentra en elevaciones bajas o medianas de bosques tropicales húmedos primarios o secundarios. Está morfológicamente relacionada con S. atirrensis y S. lingulata, de las cuales se distingue por los márgenes de las hojas mediales y axilares en ambas superficies de sus láminas, así como en el margen acroscópico en la superficie superior y en ambos márgenes de la superficie inferior de las hojas laterales con un borde blanco-hialino continuo, y por las hojas laterales submarginal- o marginalmente puberulentas, con proyecciones cortas a manera de dientes o pelos cortos y rígidos a lo largo del margen basiscópico y cerca del ápice en la superficie superior de la hoja.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the curators of the cited herbaria for making collections available and particularly to Hugo Navarrete (QCA), Bejamin Øllgaard (AAU), and Allison Paul (BM) for providing high resolution, digitized, specimen images. We are grateful to Robbin Moran, who over the years has facilitated study of the Selaginella collection at the New York Botanical Garden, for sending specimen loans and for mentoring the second author during OTS courses on ferns and lycophytes. The first author is grateful to the California Academy of Sciences, the New York Botanical Garden, the offices of the dean of the Faculty of Natural and Exact Sciences and Technology and the vice-president for Research and Graduate Programs of the University of Panama, and the Sistema Nacional de Investigación (SNI) of Panama for supporting his research. We also thank the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama for allowing use of their SEM facilities, Jorge Ceballos for assistance with SEM, Christopher Gioia for steady encouragement to the first author and for editing an early English draft of this paper, Jeraldin Vergara for the line drawing, and Pedro Argudo at Novo Art for technical assistance in assembling SEM multipart figures. Finally, we are grateful to Benjamin Torke, Fernando Matos, and an anonymous reviewer for their valued comments on the manuscript.

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  1. Departamento de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Exactas y Tecnología, Universidad de Panamá & Sistema Nacional de Investigación, Apartado Postal 0824–00073, Panamá, Panamá

    Iván A. Valdespino

  2. Departamento de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Exactas y Tecnología, Universidad de Panamá, Panamá, Panamá

    Christian A. López

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  1. Iván A. Valdespino
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Correspondence to Iván A. Valdespino.

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Valdespino, I.A., López, C.A. Selaginella moraniana (Selaginellaceae – Lycopodiophyta): A new articulate species with puberulent lateral leaves from northwestern South America. Brittonia 72, 23–34 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12228-019-09596-7

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