Abstract Detail

Pteridology

Farrar, Donald [1], Gilman, Arthur [2], Moran, Robbin C. [3].

A cryptic name to match a cryptic taxon—following the trail of Underwood’s B. onondagense, a priority name for North American B. lunaria.

Although genetic assessments have greatly promoted the recognition of morphologically cryptic species, one cryptic taxon, Botrychium onondagense Underw., was correctly distinguished in 1903 from B. lunaria (L.) Sw. by morphology alone, based on plants from Onondaga Co. near Syracuse, NY. Since then, B. onondagense has been variously treated by different researchers. In 1923, House reduced B. onondagense to a variety of B. lunaria, and likewise, in his 1938 monograph of the Ophioglossaceae, Clausen considered it to be a shade variety of B. lunaria. In 1956, Wagner and Lord concluded that B. onondagense was a shade form of B. minganense, but in their 1993 treatment for FNA, Wagner and Wagner listed B. onondagense as a synonym of B. lunaria. Recently, using morphology and co-dominant nuclear markers, Stensvold and Farrar recognized two species within North American “B. lunaria”, the first, B. neolunaria, being most common in the contiguous US, southern Canada, and lowland Alaska, the second, B. lunaria, being most common in northern Canada and upland Alaska. Underwood accurately figured both taxa, with B. onondagense most closely matching Stensvold and Farrar’s B. lunaria. Based on studies of the type and other collections from the type locality, we now conclude that B. onondagense is the same as North American plants currently recognized as B. lunaria, and is distinct from B. neolunaria. In our online treatment of Botrychium in northeastern North America, we accepted occurrence of both B. neolunaria and B. lunaria, but noted that a new name might be warranted for North American plants of B. lunaria, based on phylogenetic distinction between North American and European clades within B. lunaria as indicated by chloroplast haplotypes. We conclude that, with valid publications, both as a species, B. onondagense Underw., in 1903, and as a variety, B. lunaria var. onondagense (Underw.) House, in 1923, these names have priority at either the species or varietal level, if North American plants of B. lunaria are to be recognized as taxonomically distinct from European B. lunaria.

1 - Iowa State University, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal, 2200 Osborn Drive, Ames, Iowa, 50011-4009, United States
2 - Gilman and Briggs Environmental, 1 Conti Circle no. 5, Barre, VT, 05641
3 - The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York, 10458, USA

Keywords:
Taxonomy
Botrychium lunaria.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 5, Pteridology I
Location: 108/Mayo Civic Center
Date: Monday, July 23rd, 2018
Time: 8:45 AM
Number: 5004
Abstract ID:104
Candidate for Awards:None