Selaginella palmiformis Alston ex Crabbe & Jermy, 1973

Valdespino, Ivan A., Heringer, Gustavo, Salino, Alexandre, Goes-Neto, Luiz A. de Araujo & Ceballos, Jorge, 2015, Seven new species of Selaginella subg. Stachygynandrum (Selaginellaceae) from Brazil and new synonyms for the genus, PhytoKeys 50, pp. 61-99 : 80-82

Selaginella palmiformis Alston ex Crabbe & Jermy, 1973

Selaginella palmiformis Alston ex Crabbe & Jermy, Amer. Fern J. 63: 141. 1973. - Type. Venezuela. Amazonas: Near Salto de Huá, in western foothills of Sierra Imeri, 800 m, E. Holt & E. Blake 490 (holotype: US!; isotypes: BM! [photo: NY!, QCA!], NY!).

Selaginella manausensis Bautista, Bol. Mus. Paraense Emílio Goeldi, n.s., Bot. 45: 2. 1974. - Selaginella bahiensis Spring subsp. manausensis (Bautista) Jermy & Rankin, Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Bot. 9: 260. 1981. -Type: Brazil. Amazonas: Estrada Manaus-Itacoatiara, Km 64, picada I, 10 Oct 1968, Rodrigues, Coêlho & Monteiro 8588 (holotype: INPA-image!; isotype: MG!). Syn. nov.

Additional specimens examined.

COLOMBIA. Amazonas: Corregimiento Araracuara, Caño Aduche, 30 Aug 1977, Aguirre 907 (COL); Corr. Araracuara, Río Caquetá, 7 Aug 1977, Idrobo 8939 (COL); La Pedrera, 2-3 km along E main road, 01°18'N, 69°32'W, 300 m, 10-11 Mar 1990, Churchill 16094 (MO, NY); Río Caquetá, Cueva de los Guácharos, 250-500 m, 13 Aug 1979, Echeverry 3364 (COL); Río Caquetá, cerca a Santa Isabel, 250 m, 26 Sep 1988, Galeano & Miraña 1948 (COL). Amazonas-Vaupés: Río Apaporis, Raudal del Jirijirimo, 7 Aug 1951, Schultes & Cabrera 13459 (BM, GH, MO, S, UC, US); Caño Oo-gö’ -dja, Jenogojé, 26 Aug 1952, Schultes & Cabrera 17058 (US). Guainía: Maimachi, Serranía del Naquén, Caño Culebra, 02°06'N, 68°11'W, 150 m, Madriñan & Barbosa 822 (MO, NY); Río Guainía, Caño Guarinuma, 150 m, 10 Oct 1977, Espina et al. 153 (COL). Vaupés: Río Guainía, near Sejal, June 1948, Schultes & López 10162 (GH, MO); Río Kananarí, Cerro Isibukurí, 250-700 m, 28 Oct 1951, Schultes & Cabrera 14465 (US); Río Piraparaná, 28 Aug 1952, Schultes & Cabrera 17076 (UC, US); Río Piraparaná (tributary of Río Apaporis), Caño Teemeeña, 00°15'S-25'N, 70°30'W, 5 Sep 1952, Schultes & Cabrera 17185 (GH p.p.), Schultes & Cabrera 17190 (US), 10 Sep 1952, Schultes & Cabrera 17369 (NY, US-2 sheets). VENEZUELA. Amazonas: Dpto. Atabapo, Alto Cunucunuma, 04°08'N, 65°35'W, 380 m, Feb 1992, Chaviel 385 (NY), between Culebra and slope of Duida, 03°44'N, 65°44'W, 210 m, 16 Feb 1985, Liesner 17568 (MO, NY, UC), camino entre Culebra y la falda del extremo N del Cerro Duida, SW of Comunidad de Culebra, 03°40'N, 65°45'W, 180-300 m, 28, 30 Jan and 1 Feb 1982, Steyermark et al. 125726 (NY, UC); Río Cunucunuma, alrededores de Akanaña, 03°27'N, 65°44'W, 170 m, Apr 1990, Fernández 7946 (MO-2 sheets, NY); Cerro Duida, base on N side opposite Culebra, 03°44'W, 65°44'N, 210-350 m, 10 Oct 1988, Liesner 24640 (MO, NY, UC), slopes of Mount Duida, 750 ft [229 m], 15 Nov [1928?], Tate 376 (NY), in saddle between Duida and Marahuaca near base of Duida, 03°34'N, 65°32'W, 1000 m, 25 Oct 1988, Liesner 25363 (MO, NY, UC), slope of Huachamacari, 03°39'N, 65°42'W, 750 m, 6 Mar 1985, Liesner 18382 (MO, UC), Cerro Huachamacarí, E slope, 03°49'N, 65°42'W, 600-700 m, 2 Nov 1988, Liesner 25604 (MO, UC), Caño Negro, Río arriba desde la confluencia con Río Cunucunuma, 03°40'N, 65°45'W, 8 Feb 1982, Steyermark 126269 (NY, UC); Río Cunucunuma, Río Orinoco, Playa Alta near river mouth, 100 m, 6 Nov 1950, Maguire et al. 29452 (NY, US); Dpto. Río Negro, slopes of Cerro Aracamuni, 01°24'N, 65°38'W, 600 m, 21 Oct 1987, Liesner & Delascio 22264A (MO, NY, UC); Dpto. Río Negro, Neblina Base Camp on Río Bario (= Río Mawarinuma), SE of camp, 00°49'50"N, 66°09'40"W, 140 m, 27 Jan 1985, Beitel & Buck 85065, Beitel & Buck 85066 (NY, UC), Beitel & Buck 85067 (NY, UC). PERU. Amazonas: Dist. Bagua, Imaza, Aguaruna de Putuim, W of Putuim Village, 04°55'S, 78°19'W, 680 m, 12 Jun 1996, Rodríguez et al. 968 (MO, NY), along road Imaza-Chiriaco, 05°03'24"S, 78°20'17"W, 400 m, 18 Mar 2001, van der Werff et al. 16181 (MO). Loreto: Prov. Maynas, Dist. Iquitos, carretera del Caserio del Varillal, km 10, trail from Varillal, ca. 160 m, 4 Oct 1983, Rimachi 7101 (NY). BRAZIL. Acre: Santa Lucia, km 40 on Transamazonica Highway E of Cruzeiro do Sul, 07°08'S, 72°33'W, 14 Oct 1987, Pruski et al. 3466 (NY). Amazonas: Manaus, Rio Turumã, 23 Aug 1949, Fróes 25063 (RB); Manaos [Manaus], Sep 1929, Huebner 67 (B-2 sheets); Rio Cuieiras, 50 km upstream, 3 Apr 1974, Campbell et al. P21811 (GH, K, MO, NY-2 sheets, R, S); Rio Urubú, between Serra da Lua and Iracema, 8 Aug 1979, Calderón et al. 2978 (NY-2 sheets), between Cahoeira Iracema and Manaus-Caracarai Road, 6 Jun 1968, Prance et al. 5017 (NY). WITHOUT COUNTRY [BRAZIL?]. Bartlett s. n. (W).

Discussion.

Selaginella palmiformis is a member of subg. Stachygynandrum and is characterized by its usually 1-pinnate branches that look like miniature palm leaves. According to Alston et al. (1981) this species was restricted to the Sierras of the Amazonian part of Venezuela and Colombia; however, Smith et al. (2005) recorded it in the Department of Loreto, Peru at 100-200 m and here we registered it in Amazonas Department of that country, where it was collected at 680 m. Both Departments are located in the Peruvian Amazon region. We also confirm the distribution range of Selaginella palmiformis to include the states of Acre and Amazonas in Brazil. It can be surmised that this species is widespread in the Amazon River basin in South America and that it grows in lowland tropical rainforests and in premontane wet forests from 100 to 1000 m.

Alston et al. (1981) considered Selaginella manausensis a subspecies of Selaginella bahiensis Spring (= Selaginella bahiensis subsp. manausensis ). As part of his ongoing monographic work on the " Selaginella flabellata (L.) Spring group" the senior author studied the types of Selaginella bahiensis [BRAZIL. Bahia: In vicinia urbis Soteropoleos, Blanchet 2528 (holotype: G!; isotypes: photo BM!, G!, P-2 sheets!], Selaginella manausensis , and Selaginella palmiformis . Based on this we conclude that Selaginella manausensis is not closely related to Selaginella bahiensis but rather it is conspecific with Selaginella palmiformis and, accordingly, it is synonymized here.