Lycopodiella, Holub, 1964

Øllgaard, Benjamin, 2016, Additions, deletions and changes to the Ecuadorian Lycopodiaceae, Phytotaxa 246 (2), pp. 93-106 : 94

Lycopodiella

All Ecuadorian material of Lycopodiella sensu stricto was included in the collective species L. alopecuroides ( Linnaeus 1753: 1102) Cranfill (1981: 97) in Flora of Ecuador, where its polymorphy was discussed ( Øllgaard 1988). However, in the strict sense L. alopecuroides is limited to North America and Cuba.

Following a study of this genus in South America, it is clear that there are two distinct species in Ecuador: Lycopodiella andicola B. Øllgaard (2004: 42) and L. matthewsii ( Hooker 1836: 26) Holub (1983: 441) . The latter was included in synonymy of L. alopecuroides . They are both illustrated in the Flora, fig. 26B and 26A respectively. Lycopodiella andicola occurs at lower and mid-elevations to ca. 1800 m usually in well-drained pioneer habitats like road banks and rocky sites, whereas L. matthewsii occurs at mid- to high elevations 1700–3750 m, in low páramos and marshy places in the shrub zone often on peaty soil. Lycopodiella andicola is known from, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia, while L. matthewsii is known from the Venezuelan Andes to Peru.