Taxonomy and Phylogeny of Andina (Pottiaceae, Bryophyta): a New Moss Genus from the Tropical Andes

Abstract—

Andina , a new genus of Pottiaceae, is described with seven species from the Andes. Andina elata and A. granulosa are transferred from Pseudocrossidium, A. coquimbensis , A. oedocostata , and A. pruinosa from Didymodon, and A. churchilliana and A. limensis are newly described. The genus can be distinguished from all other Pottiaceae by a combination of characters: absence of a stem hyalodermis, axillary hairs with brownish basal cells, cucullate leaf apices, strongly recurved to revolute leaves with margins infolded at the apex, red to orange coloration of the lamina when exposed to potassium hydroxide, ventral costal outgrowths differentiated as a pad of bulging and papillose cells, filaments, or lamellae, and upper laminal cells usually bulging on both surfaces. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses of plastid DNA sequences (trnL-trnF and trnG) were undertaken to estimate the phylogenetic position of the new genus. The molecular data suggest a close relationship of Andina to the genera Gertrudiella and Didymodon with which it shares a common ancestor.