Selaginella qingchengshanensis (cryptic species), a new record to Guizhou, China

Fig. 8

Selaginella qingchengshanensis Li Bing Zhang & X. M. Zhou, Phytotaxa 522 (4): 286. 2021.

Type.

China • Sichuan: Dujiangyan City, Qingcheng Mountain, Qingchengshan Town, Wudongtian; 30°54'28"N, 103°34'6"E; elev. 960 m; 23 August 2020; Z. L. Liang & X. Pu 085 (holotype PYU).

Description.

Plants terrestrial, suberect or ascending from decumbent base, 10–25 cm; rhizophores restricted to lower part of stem, borne on lateral side in axils of branches; main stem branched from near base, terete, glabrous, reddish at lower and middle part, while stramineous at apex, 0.8–1.5 mm in diam., 5.0–9.0 mm wide including leaves; primary branche s alternate, 5–10 pairs, 0.6–1.5 cm apart along the main stem, once or twice pinnately branched, with ultimate branches including leaves being 4.0–6.0 mm wide; vegetative leaves herbaceous, dimorphic, arranged in four rows; axillary leaves symmetrical or slightly asymmetrical, broadly ovate, 2.2–2.7 × 1.3–1.8 mm, base rounded, apex acute, margin denticulate to shortly ciliolate; median leaves asymmetrical, ovate, slightly carinate, 0.8–1.8 × 0.5–0.8 mm, base obliquely subcordate, apex long aristate, slightly reflexed, margins denticulate; lateral leaves asymmetrical, ovate to oblong-ovate, 2.8–3.7 × 1.2–1.6 mm, apex acute to obtuse; basiscopic base rounded, margin denticulate to subentire; acroscopic base rounded, slightly enlarged, overlapping stems and branches, margin denticulate to shortly ciliolate; strobili solitary or pairs, terminal on the branches, compact, dorsiventrally complanate, 3.6–6.2 × 1.6–2.5 mm; sporophylls strongly dimorphic, resupinate; dorsal sporophylls ovate-lanceolate, with sporophyll-pteryx slightly incomplete and denticulate, 1.6–1.9 × 0.4–0.6 mm, margin denticulate to shortly ciliolate; ventral sporophylls ovate, carinate, 1.1–1.4 × 0.3–0.6 mm, margin denticulate to shortly ciliolate, apex long aristate; megaspores pinkish, subglobose, both proximal and distal surfaces verrucate or papillate, surfaces densely covered with fine spines; microspores orange, tetrahedral-globose, surface verrucate, densely covered with spines.

Distribution and habitat.

Endemic to south-western China (Guizhou, Sichuan); growing on ground or rocks in forests at 850–1200 m elev. The two Guizhou populations were found on wet cliffs in montane evergreen broad-leaved forest at 950–1200 m elev.

Notes.

Selaginella qingchengshanensis is currently known only from its type locality, Qingchengshan in Sichuan, south-western China (He et al. 2021). The collections from Guizhou (D 6661, D 6664) represent the first record of this species outside its type locality. Morphologically, it resembles S. monospora, but differs in the reddish colouration (vs. green in S. monospora) of the middle and lower portions of the main stem, long-aristate (vs. aristate or cuspidate) median leaf apex and pinkish (vs. white) megaspores. Selaginella qingchengshanensis is also similar to S. amblyphylla, but distinguished by its vegetative leaves denticulate at margins (vs. long ciliate in S. amblyphylla).

Voucher specimens from Guizhou, China.

• Pogang Nature Reserve, Xingyi, 25°06'29"N, 105°05'38"E, elev. 1200 m, 5 August 2024, S. Y. Dong, J. K. Huang & X. J. Li D 6661 (IBSC); • Maling River Canyon, Xingyi, 25°08'29"N, 104°57'12"E, elev. 955 m, 6 August 2024, S. Y. Dong, J. K. Huang & X. J. Li D 6664 (IBSC).