Aspleniaceae

Abstract: We present a family-level classification for the eupolypod II clade of leptosporangiate ferns, one of the two major lineages within the Eupolypods, and one of the few parts of the fern tree of life where family-level relationships were not well understood at the time of publication of the 2006 fern classification by Smith & al. Comprising over 2500 species, the composition and particularly the relationships among the major clades of this group have historically been contentious and defied phylogenetic resolution until very recently. Our classification reflects the most current available data, largely derived from published molecular phylogenetic studies. In comparison with the five-family (Aspleniaceae, Blechnaceae, Onocleaceae, Thelypteridaceae, Woodsiaceae) treatment of Smith & al., we recognize 10 families within the eupolypod II clade. Of these, Aspleniaceae, Thelypteridaceae, Blechnaceae, and Onocleaceae have the same composition as treated by Smith & al. Woodsia- ceae, which Smith & al. acknowledged as possibly non-monophyletic in their treatment, is circumscribed here to include only Woodsia and its segregates; the other "woodsioid" taxa are divided among Athyriaceae, Cystopteridaceae, Diplaziopsidaceae, Rhachidosoraceae, and Hemidictyaceae. We provide circumscriptions for each family, which summarize their morphological, geographical, and ecological characters, as well as a dichotomous key to the eupolypod II families. Three of these families— Diplaziopsidaceae, Hemidictyaceae, and Rhachidosoraceae—were described in the past year based on molecular phylogenetic analyses; we provide here their first morphological treatment.

Abstract: Molecular phylogenies have been generated to investigate relationships among species and putative segregates in Asplenium, one of the largest genera in ferns. Of the ∼700 described taxa, 71 are included in a phylogenetic analysis using the chloroplast rbcL gene and trnL-F spacer. Our results support Hymenasplenium as the sister lineage to all other asplenioid ferns, and all other putative satellite genera are nested within this asplenioid clade. Instead of the classical and well-recognized separation into Old and New World clades, asplenioid ferns reveal a separation of the deeper branches into tropical and temperate clades. Temperate clades have evolved from tropical, more-basal clades and the phylogeny indicates up to six shifts between temperate and tropical preferences in the evolution of this widespread genus. Implications for speciation processes and biogeographic aspects, including the re-colonization of temperate regions after the last glacial period, are discussed and we present a phylog...

Abstract: 140 taxa of 61 genera in 24 families of pteridophytes were recorded on the southern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. These represent about one third of the entire pteridophyte flora of Tanzania. The families richest in species are the Aspleniaceae, the Adiantaceae, the Dryopteridaceae, the Thelypteridaceae and the Hymenophyllaceae. Due to its luxuriant montane rain forest, which receives a precipitation of up to over 3000 mm, Mt. Kilimanjaro is distinctly richer in pteridophyte species than other volcanoes in East Africa. However, compared with the mountains of the Eastern Arc, the number of pteridophytes on Mt. Kilimanjaro is smaller. This can be explained by the widely destroyed submontane (intermediate) forest rather than by the higher age of the Eastern Arc Mts.

Abstract: Background The present work proposes, for the first time, a study exclusively focused on the diversity of Pteridophytes in Togo.The study was based on fieldwork that resulted in 869 new collections gathered between 2013 and 2017 in the country and on yet existing herbarium specimens kept at the Herbaria of Lome and Paris. Thus, a total number of 1092 specimens collected throughout the country served as a basis for this work, to which were added the known, published occurrences of Pteridophytes for the country. New information At the end of this study, a total diversity of 134 species belonging to 53 genera and 25 families and 12 orders were recorded and documented for the country. It results in 73 newly cited species for Togolese flora, including 61 spontaneous species. Lycopodiopsida (18 species) and Polypodiopsida (116 species) classes are both represented. The Polypodiales order is the most represented with 97 species. The Pteridaceae and Aspleniaceae families are the most diverse with 24 and 22 species respectively. Finally, notes were provided on species distribution at national level.