''Lellingeria'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

s in the family

Polypodiaceae Polypodiaceae is a family of ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), the family includes around 65 genera and an estimated 1,650 species and is placed in the order Polypodiales, suborder Polypodiineae. A broader ...

, subfamily

Grammitidoideae Grammitidoideae is a subfamily of the fern family Polypodiaceae, whose members are informally known as grammitids. It comprises a clade of about 750 species. They are distributed over higher elevations in both the Old and New World. This group w ...

, according to the

Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group, or PPG, is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the classification of pteridophytes (lycophytes and ferns) that reflects knowledge about plant relation ...

classification of 2016 (PPG I). About 50–70

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of ''Lellingeria'' are known.Barbara S. Parris. 2009. "New genera of Malesian Grammitidaceae". ''Blumea'' 54(1-3):217-219. They are

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

areas of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, and

Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

. None are known in cultivation. ''Lellingeria'' was named for the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

pteridologist #REDIRECTFern 01 Ferns Pteridologist #REDIRECTFern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The ...

David Lellinger.Alan R. Smith, Robbin C. Moran, and L. Earl Bishop. 1991. "''Lellingeria'', a new genus of Grammitidaceae". ''American Fern Journal'' 81(3):76-88.

Description

Mostly

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

Rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

radially symmetrical Symmetry in biology refers to the symmetry observed in organisms, including plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria. External symmetry can be easily seen by just looking at an organism. For example, take the face of a human being which has a pla ...

dorsiventral A dorsiventral (Lat. ''dorsum'', "the back", ''venter'', "the belly") Organ (anatomy), organ is one that has two surfaces differing from each other in appearance and structure, as an ordinary leaf. This term has also been used as a synonym for dorso ...

, with

clathrate A clathrate is a chemical substance consisting of a lattice that traps or contains molecules. The word ''clathrate'' is derived from the Latin (), meaning ‘with bars, latticed’. Most clathrate compounds are polymeric and completely envelop t ...

, usually blackish

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number w ...

that are attached across their entire base. Petiole absent or much shorter than the

lamina Lamina may refer to: Science and technology * Planar lamina, a two-dimensional planar closed surface with mass and density, in mathematics * Laminar flow, (or streamline flow) occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption betwee ...

. Sterile portion of

frond A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...

shallowly to deeply

pinnately Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

divided. Fertile portion

entire Entire may refer to: * Entire function, a function that is holomorphic on the whole complex plane * Entire (animal), an indication that an animal is not neutered * Entire (botany) This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of ...

to deeply pinnately divided. (A few species with fronds pinnate-pinnatifid). Veins simple, free (not

anastomosing An anastomosis (, plural anastomoses) is a connection or opening between two things (especially cavities or passages) that are normally diverging or branching, such as between blood vessels, leaf veins, or streams. Such a connection may be normal ...

Hydathode A hydathode is a type of pore, commonly found in angiosperms, that secretes water through pores in the epidermis or leaf margin, typically at the tip of a marginal tooth or serration. Hydathodes occur in the leaves of submerged aquatic plants s ...

s present. Sori round or elliptic, often slightly sunken, without

paraphyses Paraphyses are erect sterile filament-like support structures occurring among the reproductive apparatuses of fungi, ferns, bryophytes and some thallophytes. The singular form of the word is paraphysis. In certain fungi, they are part of the fe ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Lellingeria'' was erected in 1991. At that time, it consisted of 52 species, three newly described, and 49 transferred from the artificial ( unnatural) genus ''

Grammitis ''Grammitis'' (dwarf polypody) is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Grammitidoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). It had formerly been placed in the family Grammitidace ...

''. In 2004, a

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

study of

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

s of two

chloroplast A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant and algal cells. The photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight, converts it, and stores it in ...

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

s showed that ''Lellingeria'', as defined in 1991, was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

.Tom A. Ranker, Alan R. Smith, Barbara S. Parris, Jennifer M.O. Geiger, Christopher H. Haufler, Shannon C.K. Straub, and Harald Schneider. 2004. "Phylogeny and evolution of grammitid ferns (Grammitidaceae): a case of rampant morphological homoplasy". ''Taxon'' 53(2):415-428. This was confirmed six years later. In 2010, four species were removed from ''Lellingeria'' and combined with one species from the defunct genus '' Xiphopteris'' to form the new genus ''

Leucotrichum ''Leucotrichum'' is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Grammitidoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). It is one of about 26 genera of "grammitids".Michael A. Sundue, Meliss ...

''.Paulo H. Labiak, Germinal Rouhan, and Michael A. Sundue. 2010. "Phylogeny and taxonomy of ''Leucotrichum'' (Polypodiaceae): A new genus of grammitid ferns from the Neotropics". ''Taxon'' 59(3):911-921. The remaining species of ''Lellingeria'' form a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

genus that is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

to the genus ''

Melpomene In Greek mythology, Melpomene (; grc, Μελπομένη, Melpoménē, to sing' or 'the one that is melodious), initially the muse of chorus, eventually became the muse of tragedy, and is now best known in that association. Etymology Melp ...

''. When ''Lellingeria'' was established in 1991, thirty-five of its species were assigned to four species groups. This infra-generic classification did not hold up, because one of these groups had to be separated as ''Leucotrichum'', and because another two of these groups were not truly distinct, but intermixed. ''Lellingeria'', as currently

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

consists of two groups, one with about 20 species, and another with about 50. The smaller group is easily distinguished by morphological

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

, but the larger group is more diverse. These two groups have not been formally named as

subgenera In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

sections Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

within ''Lellingeria''. ''Lellingeria'' can be distinguished from ''Melpomene'' by the lack of

seta In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...

e, the presence of hairs on the rhizome, the sparse covering of very short hair on the upper surface of the

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this c ...

midrib This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

, and by the sori, which are slightly sunken into the lamina. When ''Lellingeria'' was first described in 1991, it was thought to always have a radially symmetrical rhizome, but it has since been learned that some of the species that belong in ''Lellingeria'' have a

rhizome. The unequally forked hairs are almost always present, but they are not a

synapomorphy In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have ...

for ''Lellingeria''.

Species

, the ''Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World'' accepted the following species: *'' Lellingeria affinis'' Labiak *'' Lellingeria amplisora'' Labiak *'' Lellingeria antillensis'' (Proctor) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria apiculata'' (Kunze ex Klotzsch) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria barbensis'' (Lellinger) A.R.Sm. er R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria bishopii'' Labiak *'' Lellingeria brasiliensis'' (Rosenst.) Labiak *'' Lellingeria brevistipes'' (Mett. ex Kuhn) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria calolepis'' Labiak *'' Lellingeria ciliolepis'' (C.Chr.) A.R.Sm. *'' Lellingeria depressa'' (C.Chr.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria dissimulans'' (Maxon) A.R.Sm. *'' Lellingeria epiphytica'' (Copel.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria flagellipinnata'' M.Kessler & A.R.Sm. *'' Lellingeria flexibilis'' Labiak *'' Lellingeria hombersleyi'' (Maxon) A.R.Sm. *'' Lellingeria humilis'' (Mett.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria isidrensis'' (Maxon ex Copel.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria itatimensis'' (C.Chr.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria jimenezii'' Labiak *'' Lellingeria kaieteura'' (Jenman) Labiak *'' Lellingeria labiakii'' Sundue *'' Lellingeria laxifolia'' A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria longeattenuata'' D.M.Forero & J.Murillo *'' Lellingeria longifolia'' Labiak *'' Lellingeria major'' (Copel.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria melanotrichia'' (Baker) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria micula'' (Lellinger) Labiak *'' Lellingeria militaris'' (Maxon) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria moranii'' Labiak *'' Lellingeria oreophila'' (Maxon) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria paramicola'' Labiak *'' Lellingeria pendula'' (Sw.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria pendulina'' A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria phlegmaria'' (J.Sm.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria pinnata'' A.Rojas *'' Lellingeria pseudocapillaris'' (Rosenst.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria pseudotenuicula'' Labiak *'' Lellingeria randallii'' (Maxon) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria simacensis'' (Rosenst.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria sinuosa'' (A.R.Sm.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria smithii'' Labiak *'' Lellingeria subimpressa'' (Copel.) Labiak *'' Lellingeria subsessilis'' (Baker) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria suprasculpta'' (Christ) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria suspensa'' (L.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria tamandarei'' (Rosenst.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria tenuicula'' (Fée) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria tmesipteris'' (Copel.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria tunguraguae'' (Rosenst.) A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran *'' Lellingeria vargasiana'' A.Rojas

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6520927 Polypodiaceae Fern genera