Abstract
Abstract During field studies in 2019 in the Beskid Śląski mountain range in southern Poland, one individual morphologically resembling Polystichum setiferum was found. Nuclear DNA content analysis confirmed the species identity. The new stand of P. setiferum corresponds to historical literature reports and herbarium specimens from the Czech Republic and Poland, and extends the northeastern limit of the distribution of this species. As the historical stands in both countries have not been confirmed, the newly discovered stand is at present strongly isolated, as the nearest extant locations of P. setiferum in Austria, southern Hungary, and western Romania are nearly 500 km away. Therefore, this unique stand deserves special attention and protection.
Highlights
Polystichum setiferum (Forssk.) Moore ex Woynar. is a fern species with an Atlantic and sub-Mediterranean distribution, from Canary Islands, northern Africa to Ireland in the west, to the Balkans and the Caucasus Mountains in the east (Dostál & Reichstein, 1984)
A recent detailed morphological study of herbarium materials allowed the identification of P. setiferum in herbarium collections dated 1881–1935 from the territory of the Czech Republic (Ekrt, 2016). ese individuals came from Moravskoslezské Beskydy Mountains (Mt Kněhyně and Mt Smrk), Moravský kras (Olomučany), Jeseníky Mountains (Rýmařov, Mt Praděd, Velkákotlina), and Rychlebské hory (Lázně Jeseník) (Figure 1)
Field studies performed during 2018–2020 in Poland, in regions of historical occurrence of P. setiferum, led to the identification of one individual in the western part of the Beskid Śląski mountain range (Figure 1), morphologically corresponding well to this species (Figure 2 and Figure 3). It was found by the first author on December 21, 2019, on the southwestern slopes of Mt Czupel near Brenna, in the western part of the Beskid Śląski mountain range, in one of the abandoned sandstone quarries at ca. 480 m a.s.l. (ATPOL DG0201 square), covered with a 100-year-old beech forest with an admixture of artificially planted larch trees in a half-shaded habitat (Figure 4). is plant was accompanied by several individuals of P. aculeatum located further apart
Summary
Polystichum setiferum (Forssk.) Moore ex Woynar. is a fern species with an Atlantic and sub-Mediterranean distribution, from Canary Islands, northern Africa to Ireland in the west, to the Balkans and the Caucasus Mountains in the east (Dostál & Reichstein, 1984). A recent detailed morphological study of herbarium materials allowed the identification of P. setiferum in herbarium collections dated 1881–1935 from the territory of the Czech Republic (Ekrt, 2016). Polystichum setiferum is a diploid species (2n = 82), which is one of the parental species of the allotetraploid P. aculeatum (2n = 164) (Dostál & Reichstein, 1984).
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