Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 752 No. 4: 29 Apr. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-04-29
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.752.4.1
Page range: 243-267
Abstract views: 0
PDF downloaded: 0

Guangxi-Yunnan 2009: Nine new cave ferns of Polystichum (Dryopteridaceae)

College of Life Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Shapingba, Chongqing 401331, China
Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, Sichuan 610213, China
Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, U.S.A.
Cave endemics cave ferns most endangered species perispores spore ornamentation Pteridophytes

Abstract

Based on gross morphology and spore morphology, nine new species of cave ferns of Polystichum subg. Haplopolystichum are described and illustrated from southern China’s Guangxi and Yunnan provinces. These nine new species include P. adclivum, P. crepusculum, P. dilatatisquamosum, P. durispinosum, P. elegantissimum, P. longidentatum, P. tenuirachis, P. tianlinense, and P. zhenxiongense. All nine species each are so far known only from a single cave; these nine are all classified as Critically Endangered (CR) following IUCN Red List criteria.

References

  1. Baker, J.G. (1880) New ferns of China and Japan. The Gardeners' Chronicle, new series 14: 494.
  2. Ching, R.C. (1938) A revision of the Chinese and Sikkim-Himalayan Dryopteris with reference of some species from neighbouring regions. Bulletin of the Fan Memorial Institute of Biology: Botany 8 (5): 363–507.
  3. Chu, W.M. & He, Z.R. (2000) Taxonomic notes on some pteridophytes from Yunnan (II). Acta Botanica Yunnanica 22: 255–262.
  4. Diels, L. (1899) Polypodiaceae. In: Engler, H.G.A. & Prantl, K.A.E. (Eds.) Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien, vol. 1 (4). W. Engelmann, Leipzig, pp. 139–339.
  5. He, H. & Zhang, L.-B. (2011) Polystichum cavernicola, sp. nov. (sect. Haplopolystichum, Dryopteridaceae) from a karst cave in Guizhou, China and its phylogenetic affinities. Botanical Studies 52: 121–127.
  6. IUCN (2024) Guidelines for Using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, prepared by the Standards and Petitions Committee, version 16. Available from: http://www.iucnredlist.org/documents/RedListGuidelines.pdf (accessed 13 January 2026).
  7. Roth, A.W. (1799 [1800]) Tentamen Florae Germanicae, vol. 3. Gleditsch, Leipzig, 578 pp.
  8. Tagawa, M. (1940) Polystichum of Japan, Korea, and Formosa I. Acta Phytotaxonomica Geobotanica 9: 119–138.
  9. Xiang, L.-L. (1994) A taxonomical study of the genus Polystichum Roth section Haplopolystichum Tagawa from Yunnan, China. Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica 32: 258–267.
  10. Zhang, L.-B. (2012) Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes on the fern genus Polystichum (Dryopteridaceae) from China. Phytotaxa 60: 57–60. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.60.1.8
  11. Zhang, L.-B. & Barrington, D.S. (2013) Polystichum. In: Wu, Z.-Y., Raven, P.H. & Hong, D.-Y. (Eds.) Flora of China, vols. 2–3. Science Press, Beijing & Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, pp. 629–713.

How to Cite

He, H., Liang, Z.-L. & Zhang, L.-B. (2026) Guangxi-Yunnan 2009: Nine new cave ferns of Polystichum (Dryopteridaceae). Phytotaxa 752 (4): 243–267. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.752.4.1