Palhinhaea Franco & Vasc.

Øllgaard, Benjamin, 2020, Lycopodiaceae in Colombia: Subfamilies Lycopodioideae and Lycopodielloideae, Phytotaxa 433 (3), pp. 195-224 : 208

Palhinhaea Franco & Vasc. in Vasconcellos & Franco (1967: 24).

Type:— Palhinhaea cernua (L.) Vasc. & Franco (≡ Lycopodium cernuum L.).

Lycopodiella sect. Campylostachys (K. Müller) Øllgaard (1987: 175) .— Lycopodium sect. Campylostachys Müller (1861: 163) .— Lycopodium subgen. Rhopalostachya Pritzel sect. Cernua Pritzel (1901: 602) . Type:— Lycopodium cernuum L.

Palhinhaea Franco & Vasc. was proposed to be conserved over Lepidotis P.Beauv. ( Greuter & Troia 2014) ; the proposal was later accepted ( Applequist 2016).

Sporophytes with trailing, or arching to looping indeterminate shoots that root with usually long intervals and occasionally branch in the horizontal plane, giving off horizontal branchlet systems, - and usually bearing one main erect branch arising on the dorsal side of the loops; the main erect branch bears a series of subdecussately arranged, spreading to hanging, flabellate branchlet systems, which in turn may terminate in sessile, nodding to pendulous strobili. Palhinhaea steyermarkii is unusual because of the long, slender, scandent, climbing, or creeping main axes, which give off spreading to flaccidly hanging lateral branchlet systems). Also P. glaucescens and P. lehmanni usually have scandent growth. Leaves and stem surfaces often with short, unicellular or pluricellular and branched hairs; sporangia partly enclosed in cavities formed by the strobilar cortex and the coalescent basal membranes of adjacent sporophylls ( Fig. 1C ), subglobular, anisovalvate. Sporangium epidermis cells with nodular or buttress-like, lignified thickenings on the straight side walls; spores rugate to nearly smooth, without a distinct equatorial rim.

Pantropic, commonly pioneers on disturbed soil. Palhinhaea cernua is pantropical. Most other species have narrow distributions. Ca. 20 species in the Neotropics. Species diversity is especially high on tropical mountains. Palhinhaea steyermarkii may grow as a high-climbing epiphyte.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A: Subpeltate sporophylls of Lycopodium clavatum. B: Peltate sporophylls of Austrolycopodium magellanicum. C. Part of strobilus of Palhinhaea steyermarkii with sporangia partly enclosed by strobilus axis cortex and coalescent sporophyll bases.