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Ting Wang tris, H.F.Chen & Y.H.Yan, a new fern of Marattiaceae, is described and illustrated. Morphologically, is similar to with more than one naked pulvinus on the stipe and numerous jointed hairs on the undersides of the mature pinnae. However, the pinnae of are lanceolate and can reach up to 4-6 pairs, whereas they are elliptic and occur in 2-3 pairs in . Phylogenetic and genetic distance analysis, based on the plastid genomes, also indicates that is not closely related to . Currently, there are ca. 500 mature individuals in Gulinqing Nature Reserve and we suggest should be categorised as an Endangered (EN) species according to the criteria of IUCN.

In this study, we confirm that the population of Angiopteris from Guangdong Province represents a distinct new species, which we describe as Angiopteris guangdongensis . Morphologically, A. guangdongensis resembles Angiopteris fokiensis but can be distinguished by its arborescent habit (reaching up to 5 m in height), robust scaly stipes, linear‐lanceolate pinnules, abaxially scaly slender pinnules, sori with 7–16 sporangia, and a higher basal pinnule aspect ratio. Plastid phylogenomic analyses place A. guangdongensis as a monophyletic lineage sister to A. fokiensis . According to IUCN guidelines, the species is preliminarily assessed as ‘Data Deficient (DD)’. In addition, we report the complete plastid genome of this new species. This discovery not only provides important insights into the evolution and speciation of Angiopteris but also highlights the taxonomic oversimplification within the genus.

Premise of the Study Recent clarification of the distribution of Marattiales through time provides the impetus for “total evidence” phylogenetic analyses of a major fern clade with a rich fossil record. These analyses serve as empirical tests for results from systematic analyses of living species and also of the belief that relationships among living species accurately reflect the overall pattern of phylogeny for clades with an extensive fossil record and a large percentage of extinction. Methods Species of living and fossil Marattiaceae are analyzed employing a “total evidence approach” via maximum parsimony. Analyses were conducted using TNT implemented through WinClada. Key Results Systematic analyses of living species and of living + extinct species provide roughly concordant topologies for living taxa. However, living species of Marattiales are only one component of a much larger clade with two major subclades. One consists of Psaroniaceae and extends through time to at least the Early Cretaceous. The other consists of Marattiaceae and includes all living species. Various analyses support the generic‐level clades of living species from earlier analyses, but the arrangement of such clades varies from analysis to analysis. Conclusions Marattiales is a monophyletic group that is extremely common in late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic deposits, with a stem group Psaroniaceae and a crown group Marattiaceae. Because Marattiaceae represents only a small component of overall marattialean diversity, living species alone neither account for evolutionary changes within the clade over time, nor accurately reflect the overall pattern of marattialean fern phylogeny.

Angiopteris weimingii , a morphologically distinct new species of Angiopteris (Marattiaceae) from southern Yunnan, China, is described. Compared with A. itoi , the new species can be distinguished by a taller habit (1.2–2.5 m vs. 0.5–1.5 m), a greater number of pinnae pairs (8–13 pairs vs. 4–9 pairs), a caudate tip (1 cm vs. 2–4 cm), the position of sori from the leaf margin (2 mm vs. 3–5 mm), spore color (yellow vs. white), and spore ornamentation (densely verrucate vs. clavate-echinate). Molecular phylogenetic analyses confirm its affinity with the Archangiopteris clade. With a single known population of approximately 30 adults and severe habitat destruction, the species is assessed as Critically Endangered (CR) under IUCN criteria.

Premise of research. Fern fronds are common in Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata. Large tri- or multipinnate fronds are mainly preserved as impression/compressions, while anatomically preserved specimens are typically smaller and comprise dispersed petioles, rachides, ultimate pinna, and pinnules. Here, we describe a large, anatomically preserved tripinnate frond from the latest Permian of southwest China that provides the first detailed histological information for a Cathaysian marattialean with pinnule morphology of the cosmopolitan Carboniferous-Permian pecopteriod type, but with different frond anatomy. Methodology. Specimens were prepared by the cellulose acetate peel technique and studied by light microscopy. Pivotal results. The tripinnate frond has a main rachis and a primary pinnae rachis with many (>70) small vascular bundles arranged in cycles and abundant tanniferous cells. Pinnules are small, and their bases are entirely attached to the ultimate rachis. Abundant vascular bundles in the rachises are distinct from previously recognized marattialean genera, justifying the establishment of Rothwellopteris pecopteroides gen. et sp. nov. Comparison of pinnule morphology with impression/compression fossils shows the specimen to be an anatomically preserved equivalent of Pecopteris marginata Li et al. Conclusions. Rothwellopteris pecopteroides displays a novel combination of marattialean characters from the extinct Paleozoic family Psaroniaceae and the extant family Marattiaceae. Its frond morphology resembles Psaroniaceae including Psaronius but differs from extant Marattiaceae that are monopinnate, palmate, or, as in Angiopteris, bipinnate and that have large pinnules with contracted bases. By contrast, its anatomy, with abundant vascular bundles, is similar to Marattiaceae, especially Angiopteris, but it is distinct from members of the Psaroniaceae in which the rachis possesses one or two tangentially elongate vascular bundles. Pecopteris marginata shows that, by the latest Permian, Marattiales had already evolved frond anatomy typical of extant genera, demonstrating that the stem group to crown group transition commenced prior to the Triassic.

A new lectotype is proposed for Marattia raddiana, correcting a confusion caused by a previous lectotypification found to be in conflict with the protologue. This new lectotypification makes Proposal 2479, to conserve the name M. kaulfussii over M. raddiana, unnecessary.

Marattiaceae is a phylogenetically isolated family of tropical eusporangiate ferns including six genera with more than one-hundred species. In Marattiaceae, monophyly of genera has been well-supported phylogenetically. However, the phylogenetic relationships among them were elusive and controversial. Here, a dataset of 26 transcriptomes (including 11 newly generated) were used to assess single-copy nuclear genes and to obtain the organelle gene sequences. Through phylotranscriptomic analysis, the phylogeny and hybridization events of Marattiaceae were explored and a robust phylogenomic framework for the evolution of Marattiaceae was provided. Using both concatenation- and coalescent-based phylogenies, the gene-tree discordance, incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) simulations, and network inference were examined. Except the low support with mitochondrial genes of Marattiaceae, nuclear genes and chloroplast genes strongly supported a sister relationship between Marattiaceae and leptosporangiate ferns. At the genus level, all phylogenetic analysis based on nuclear genes datasets recovered five genera in Marattiaceae as monophyletic with strong support. Danaea and Ptisana were the first two diverged clades in turn. Christensenia was a sister clade to the clade Marattia + Angiopteris s.l. In Angiopteris s.l., three clades (Angiopteris s.s., the Archangiopteris group, and An. sparsisora) were well identified with maximum support. The Archangiopteris group was derived from Angiopteris s.s. at ca. 18 Ma. The putative hybrid species An. sparsisora between Angiopteris s.s. and the Archangiopteris group was verified by the species network analyses and the maternal plastid genes. This study will improve our understanding for using the phylotranscriptomic method to explore phylogeny and investigate hybridization events for difficult taxa in ferns.

Angiopteris nodosipetiolata Ting Wang tris, H.F.Chen & Y.H.Yan, a new fern of Marattiaceae, is described and illustrated. Morphologically, A. nodosipetiolata is similar to A. chingii with more than one naked pulvinus on the stipe and numerous jointed hairs on the undersides of the mature pinnae. However, the pinnae of A. nodosipetiolata are lanceolate and can reach up to 4–6 pairs, whereas they are elliptic and occur in 2–3 pairs in A. chingii . Phylogenetic and genetic distance analysis, based on the plastid genomes, also indicates that A. nodosipetiolata is not closely related to A. chingii . Currently, there are ca. 500 mature individuals in Gulinqing Nature Reserve and we suggest A. nodosipetiolata should be categorised as an Endangered (EN) species according to the criteria of IUCN.

Premise of the Study: The monilophytes (ferns and relatives)--the third largest group of land plants--exhibit a diverse array of vegetative and reproductive morphologies. Investigations into their early ecological and life-history diversification require accurate, well-corroborated phylogenetic estimates. We examined the utility of a large plastid-based data set in inferring backbone relationships for monilophytes. METHODS: We recovered 17 plastid genes for exemplar taxa using published and new primers. We compared results from maximum-likelihood and parsimony analyses, assessed the effects of removing rapidly evolving characters, and examined the extent to which our data corroborate or contradict the results of other studies, or resolve current ambiguities. Key Results: Considering multifamily clades, we found bootstrap support comparable to or better than that in published studies that used fewer genes from fewer or more taxa. We firmly establish filmy ferns (Hymenophyllales) as the sister group of all leptosporangiates except Osmundaceae, resolving the second deepest split in leptosporangiate-fern phylogeny. A clade comprising Ophioglossaceae and Psilotaceae is currently accepted as the sister group of other monilophytes, but we recover Equisetum in this position. We also recover marattioid and leptosporangiate ferns as sister groups. Maximum-likelihood rate-class estimates are somewhat skewed when a long-branch lineage (Selaginella) is included, negatively affecting bootstrap support for early branches. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the utility of this gene set in corroborating relationships found in previous studies, improving support, and resolving uncertainties in monilophyte phylogeny. Despite these advances, our results also underline the need for continued work on resolving the very earliest splits in monilophyte phylogeny.

Nucleotide sequences of seven chloroplast (atpBandrbcL, SSU and LSU rDNAs), mitochondrial (atp1, LSU rDNA), and nuclear (18S rDNA) genes from 192 land plants and their algal relatives were analyzed using maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony methods. Liverworts, mosses, hornworts, lycophytes, monilophytes (ferns), seed plants, and angiosperms all represent strongly supported monophyletic groups. Three bryophyte lineages form a paraphyletic group to vascular plants, with liverworts representing the sister to all other land plants and hornworts being sister to vascular plants. Lycophytes are sister to all other vascular plants, which are divided into two clades, one being monilophytes, which includeEquisetum, Psilotaceae‐Ophioglossaceae, Marattiaceae, and leptosporangiate ferns, and the other being seed plants. Relationships among the monilophyte lineages remain unresolved. Within seed plants, extant gymnosperms form a moderately supported clade in which Gnetales are related to conifers. This clade is sister to angiosperms. Most of the relationships among all major lineages of nonflowering land plants are supported by bootstrap values of 75% or higher, except those among basal monilophyte lineages and among some gymnosperm lineages, probably because of extinctions. The closest algal relative of land plants is Characeae, and this relationship is well supported. Several methodological issues on reconstructing large, deep phylogenies are also discussed.