Corresponding author: Jovani B. S. Pereira (
Academic editor: Angelo Troia
Pereira JBS, Guimaraes JTF, Watanabe MTC (2019)
Herbarium collections are amongst the most important tools for obtaining information about the composition, distribution and content of plant diversity in a given region (
Difficulties in the identification have frequently led many
Our recent efforts to access the diversity of
Fieldwork was carried out by Balthasar Dubs, a Swiss botanist and ornithologist who intensively collected plants in the Pantanal wetlands in Brazil and found
Spore images were generated by transferring the spores to aluminium scanning electron microscope (
BRAZIL. Mato Grosso do Sul: Fazenda Salina, Pantanal do Rio Negro,
Type of
Plants aquatic submerged, growing in fresh water ponds. Roots conspicuous, dichotomous. Stems globose, 3–lobate, ca. 2 cm wide. Leaves 90‒100 cm long, 0.2–0.3 cm wide at mid length, 50–60 per individual, linear, flexuous, erect, apex attenuate; alae 12–13 cm long, extending from the base ca. 1/10 of total leaf length, red-brown, membranaceous, apex attenuate; subula olive-green, trigonal. Labium present, persistent, 1.5–2.0 × 2.0–2.5 mm, cordate. Ligula not observed in herbarium material. Velum rudimentary. Sclerified phyllopodia absent. Sporangium at the base of the leaf, 8–12 × 3–4 mm, oblong, light brown, concolorous. Megaspores 310–390 µm in diameter (average = 350 µm,
This species is only known from its type locality (state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil; Fig.
Map showing the type locations of
The specific epithet honours the Swiss ornithologist and botanist B. Dubs, for his valuable contributions to the knowledge of the flora and fauna of the Pantanal wetlands of Brazil. He was also the first naturalist to collect
Amongst the species found in Brazilian Pantanal wetlands,
Since
BOLIVIA. Santa Cruz: Nuflo de Chaves,
Plant aquatic partially submerged or ephemeral terrestrial in rocky granite outcrops. Roots conspicuous, dichotomous. Stems globose, 3–lobate, 0.8–1.2 cm wide. Leaves 6–15 cm long, 0.4–0.8 mm wide at mid length, 15–30 per individual, filiform, flexuous, laxly ascending, apex attenuate; alae 0.3–3.5 cm long, extending from the base ca. 1/5 of total leaf length, hyaline or light brown, membranaceous, apex attenuate; subula olive green, trigonal. Labium present, persistent, cordate, 0.2–0.5 × 0.6–0.9 mm. Ligule not observed in herbarium material. Velum rudimentary to > 0.2 mm wide along the lateral edges of the sporangium. Sclerified phyllopodia present. Sporangium at the base of the leaf 2.5–3.5 × 2.0–2.5 mm, oblong, black or reddish-black, concolorous. Megaspores 320‒390 µm in diameter (average = 350 µm,
The specific epithet refers to the type region, the Department of Santa Cruz in Bolivia (Fig.
Until now, six species of
Type of
Type of
1 | Plants from lowlands < 500 m |
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– | Plants from Andean highlands 2500–5200 m |
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2 | Megaspores baculate (more rarely tuberculate) | |
– | Megaspores pustulate or verrucate |
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3 | Plant aquatic submerged; megaspores pustulate; laesurae of the megaspore at least four times wider than high |
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– | Plant amphibious or terrestrial; megaspores verrucate; laesurae of the megaspore slightly wider than high |
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4 | Leaves ascending, straight; sclerified phyllopodia absent; sporangium hyaline; megaspore densely verrucate on the distal surface; microspore densely echinate |
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– | Leaves erect, flexuous; sclerified phyllopodia present; sporangium black or reddish-black; megaspores sparsely verrucate on the distal surface; microspores sparsely echinate |
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5 | Plants of cushion bogs; stem vertically elongate; leaves 50–200 per individual |
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– | Plants of lakes, pools, streams and marshes; stem globose; leaves < 50 per individual |
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6 | Foliar gemmae present; sclerifed phyllopodia present |
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– | Foliar gemmae absent; sclerifed phyllopodia absent |
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7 | Leaves flaccid, lax to weakly erect; microspores verrucate or tuberculate on the distal surface |
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– | Leaves turgid, stiffly erect; microspores echinate on the distal surface |
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8 | Leaves without dark pigmentation basally; megaspores rugulate (rarely smooth) |
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– | Leaves usually with dark brown to nearly sclerotic pigmentation basally; megaspores smooth |
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The authors thank the curators and collection managers of the herbaria MO, L and Z/ZT for specimen loans, access to their collections and high-resolution photographs of the types. We are also grateful to Jim Hickey, Michael Kessler and Angelo Troia by their valuable comments on the manuscript. This study was made possible through a fellowship from Capes/ITV (88887.130616/2016) to JBSP and a research fellowship from CNPq (302839/2016-0) to JTFG.