27th Annual Student Research Conference
Description of a New African Fern Species Belonging to Triplophyllum (Tectariaceae)
Zachary Rhodes
Dr. Elisabeth A. Hooper, Faculty Mentor
A plant specimen collected in 2008 in Gabon, Africa, was suspected to represent an undescribed species of fern. Morphological features of this specimen were studied to compare this putative new species to related genera, Tectaria, Ctenitis, and Triplophyllum, in the family Tectariaceae. A total of 110 morphological characters were analyzed. The analysis of the leaves and stems of this new fern was supplemented with a comparison of spore size and morphology from the same related genera. Light microscopy was used to measure spore size and scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the surface morphology of the spores. Based on the relatively small size of the fronds, the un-dissected leaf form, and the length of the indumentum the specimen was determined to be a new species within the genus Triplophyllum. It will be described as T. parvum Z. D. Rhodes, E. A. Hooper & G. Yatskievych.
Keywords: T. parvum, Triplophyllum, fern, new species, spores, frond morphology
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 404-1
Location: MG 1098
Time: 2:30