Lellingeria A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran, Amer. Fern J.

Smith, Alan R., Kessler, Michael, León, Blanca, Almeida, Thaís Elias, Jiménez-Pérez, Iván & Lehnert, Marcus, 2018, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. XL. Polypodiaceae, Phytotaxa 354 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

Lellingeria A.R.Sm. & R.C.Moran, Amer. Fern J. 81(3): 76. 1991.

Lellingeria was first circumscribed by Smith et al. (1991), but later the “ L. myosuroides group” of Smith et al., even though sister to Lellingeria sensu Labiak (2013) , was removed and given the new generic name Stenogrammitis by Labiak (2011). Lellingeria was further amended by the removal of the “ L. mitchellii group”; this segregate, a small, largely Brazilian genus comprising six species, which made Lellingeria polyphyletic, was given the new generic name Leucotrichum by Labiak et al. (2010a). Still later, Lellingeria in its newly modified circumscription was monographed by Labiak (2013). Lellingeria sensu Labiak (2013) is characterized by having radially symmetric rhizomes, pale, unequally forked, acicular hairs on petioles and rachises, and clathrate rhizome scales. Most species also have pale marginal setae on the rhizome scales and sunken sori ( Smith et al. 1991, Labiak et al. 2010a), as well as relatively short, pale hairs on petioles, rachises, and blades (contrasting with the long reddish brown setae found in many neotropical grammitids); many species have slightly sunken sori. Some species of Lellingeria may be confused with Terpsichore and Moranopteris , both of which have reddish setae and lack clathrate rhizome scales and unequally forked hairs, and with Melpomene , which lacks forked hairs and has cordate, entire-margined rhizome scales with glandular apices. Sundue et al. (2010) explored relationships among Lellingeria , Melpomene , and Terpsichore s.l. using both morphology and molecules. Many species of Lellingeria are known from few collections and have rather restricted distributions.

Lellingeria is most closely related, and sister, to Stenogrammitis , and this combined clade is sister to Melpomene ( Labiak et al. 2010 a, Labiak 2013). Lellingeria comprises about 50 species and is confined to the Neotropics ( Labiak 2013); 12 species are known from Bolivia. Paleotropical species attributed to Lellingeria , in Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarenes, Hawaii, and the southern Pacific islands, are now placed largely in Stenogrammitis ( Labiak 2011) , with five species in Leucotrichum ( Labiak et al. 2010b) . Species of Lellingeria (including Stenogrammitis at that time) from Brazil were treated by Labiak & Prado (2005b), and those from Colombia by Forero-M. & Murillo-A. (2010).