Abstract
Pyrrosia Mirb. (Polypodiaceae) comprises about 59 species, most of which occur in Southeast Asia, but some taxa are also in Africa and Oceania. Although several authors have investigated the species diversity of the genus, a phylogenetic study focusing on the relationship between species has not been available. We used sequences of three plastid markers (rbcL, rps4-trnS and atpB) to reconstruct a phylogenetic tree for 38 taxa of Pyrrosia. Trees were generated under Bayesian inference, ML analysis and MP analysis. Groups present in all analyses were used to propose a subgeneric classification of Pyrrosia. As a result, six subgenera, P. subgenus Lunae Vasques subgenus nov., P. subgenus Neoniphopsis (Nakai) Vasques comb. & stat. nov., P. subgenus Niphobolus (Kaulf.) Vasques comb. nov., P. subgenus Niphopsis (J. Sm.) Shing, P. subgenus Pyrrosia and P. subgenus Solis Vasques subg. nov., are proposed and an identification key, diagnostic traits, notes for identification and an overall discussion of each subgenus are given. The phylogenetic tree represents about 65% of the diversity of the genus. The remaining species are assigned to the proposed subgenera based on their diagnostic traits.
