End of an enigma: Aenigmopteris belongs in Tectaria (Tectariaceae: Polypodiopsida)

Chen CW 1 , Rothfels CJ 2 , Mustapeng AMA 3 , Gubilil M 3 , Karger DN 4 , Kessler M 4 Show all authors , Huang YM 5

Affiliations 

  • 1 Division of Silviculture, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, 53 Nan-Hai Rd., Taipei, 100, Taiwan
  • 2 University Herbarium and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, USA. crothfels@berkeley.edu
  • 3 Forest Research Centre, Sabah Forestry Department, PO Box 1407, 90715, Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia
  • 4 Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 5 Division of Silviculture, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, 53 Nan-Hai Rd., Taipei, 100, Taiwan. huangym@tfri.gov.tw
J Plant Res, 2018 Jan;131(1):67-76.
PMID: 28741041 DOI: 10.1007/s10265-017-0966-9

Abstract

The phylogenetic affinities of the fern genus Aenigmopteris have been the subject of considerable disagreement, but until now, no molecular data were available from the genus. Based on the analysis of three chloroplast DNA regions (rbcL, rps16-matK, and trnL-F) we demonstrate that Aenigmopteris dubia (the type species of the genus) and A. elegans are closely related and deeply imbedded in Tectaria. The other three species of genus are morphologically very similar; we therefore transfer all five known species into Tectaria. Detailed morphological comparison further shows that previously proposed diagnostic characters of Aenigmopteris fall within the range of variation of a broadly circumscribed Tectaria.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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