Format: ORAL

Susana Vega-Betancur

1. University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia

With approximately 700 accepted species, Selaginella (spikemosses) is the most species-rich clade of lycophytes and the sole genus in the family Selaginellaceae. Along with the Isoetaceae and Lycopodiaceae, this family holds a critical phylogenetic position as sister to the remainder of the vascular plant lineages and is important for understanding early land plant evolution. The genus Selaginella has a cosmopolitan distribution, but the greatest diversity occurs in the American tropics. The taxonomy of Selaginella is problematic because of the large number of species, limited morphological differentiation amongst taxa, and a lack of modern taxonomic resources for the group. Selaginella diversity in the Americas peaks in Colombia, an understudied global center of plant diversity. This taxonomic impediment limits our ability both to understand global patterns of Selaginella diversity and evolution, as well as to advance knowledge of the Colombian flora as a whole. An update to the Flora of Colombia that aims to improve the understanding of the diversity, taxonomy, and distribution of Colombian Selaginella is here presented. In total 110 species are recognized, 17 of which are new records for the country, including eight recently described species and four yet-undescribed species. Two species previously included in the Catalog of the Vascular Flora of Colombia are excluded. This update includes a dichotomous key and distribution notes for the 110 recognized species.