Browsing by Author "Tuomisto, H"

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    Evolutionary relationships within the Neotropical, eusporangiate fern genus Danaea (Marattiaceae).
    (Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 2008-01) Christenhusz, MJM; Tuomisto, H; Metzgar, JS; Pryer, KM
    Genera within the eusporangiate fern family Marattiaceae have long been neglected in taxonomic and systematic studies. Here we present the first phylogenetic hypothesis of relationships within the exclusively Neotropical genus Danaea based on a sampling of 60 specimens representing 31 species from various Neotropical sites. We used DNA sequence data from three plastid regions (atpB, rbcL, and trnL-F), morphological characters from both herbarium specimens and live plants observed in the field, and geographical and ecological information to examine evolutionary patterns. Eleven representatives of five other marattioid genera (Angiopteris, Archangiopteris, Christensenia, Macroglossum, and Marattia) were used to root the topology. We identified three well-supported clades within Danaea that are consistent with morphological characters: the "leprieurii" clade (containing species traditionally associated with the name D. elliptica), the "nodosa" clade (containing all species traditionally associated with the name D. nodosa), and the "alata" clade (containing all other species). All three clades are geographically and ecologically widely distributed, but subclades within them show various distribution patterns. Our phylogenetic hypothesis provides a robust framework within which broad questions related to the morphology, taxonomy, biogeography, evolution, and ecology of these ferns can be addressed.
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    Metaxya lanosa, a second species in the genus and fern family Metaxyaceae
    (Systematic Botany, 2001-10-11) Smith, AR; Tuomisto, H; Pryer, KM; Hunt, JS; Wolf, PG
    We describe and illustrate Metaxya lanosa, the second known species in the genus and the fern family Metaxyaceae (Pteridophyta). It is currently known from four different watersheds in Amazonian Peru and Venezuela. It can be distinguished readily from M. rostrata by the noticeably woolly-hairy stipes and rachises (hairs red-brown or orange-brown and easily abraded), broader, more elliptic pinnae, cartilaginous and whitish pinna margins, more distinct veins abaxially, and longer pinna stalks, especially on the distal pinnae, rbcL data from a very limited sampling are ambiguous but do not reject support for the recognition of at least two species within Metaxya.