Grammitis quaerenda Bolle (1863:324)

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

This taxon may be synonymous with the extant G. ebenina, in which case G. quaerenda would be considered extant (i.e. taxonomically rediscovered) as it takes priority due to being described much earlier (García Criado et al., 2017:20). But Hassler (2004-2023) erroneously lists G. quaerenda as a synonym of G. ebenina. POWO (2023) treats G. quaerenda as an extinct endemic of the Canary Islands without G. ebenina as a synonym. The distribution data given by other sources implies that they accept the synonymy (viz. beyond the Canary Islands) (Schäfer, 2001:515; Aedo et al., 2015), but the synonymy requires genetic confirmation which hadn't been done up to that point (García Criado et al., 2017:20).

Conservation Status

Extinct (POWO, 2023; Christenhusz & Govaerts, 2024) or Rediscovered (taxonomically) (see García Criado et al., 2017:20) and thus extant (Schäfer, 2001:515; Aedo et al., 2015)

Last record: 1825 or earlier (Buch, 1825; Aedo et al., 2015); 1850's (Christenhusz & Govaerts, 2024)

"Neither this species nor any other of the genus (with distribution basically pantropical) have been located in the Canary Islands since the early nineteenth century. There is a lack of data to suggest a probable cause of extinction."

(Aedo et al., 2015)

Distribution

Tenerife, Canary Islands, North Africa (POWO, 2023); São Tomé, St Helena, Guinea and perhaps Azores (Schäfer, 2001:515); Canary Islands, Atlantic Island, Guinea (Aedo et al., 2015:table 1)

Endemic to Tenerife in the Canary Islands where it is extinct according to (POWO, 2023; Christenhusz & Govaerts, 2024)). A broader distribution including localities for G. ebenina are given by (Schäfer, 2001:515; Aedo et al., 2015), who clearly accept the synonymy, but the synonymy requires genetic confirmation which hadn't been done up to that point (García Criado et al., 2017:20).

Biology & Ecology

Hypodigm

Media

References

Original scientific description:

Bolle, C. (1863). Die Standorte der Farrn auf den Canarischen Inseln. I. – Z. Allg. Erdk. 14: 289-334.

Other references:

Acebes, J. R. et al. (2010). Spermatophyta. In: Arechavaleta, M. et al. (eds), Lista de especies silvestres de Canarias (hongos, plantas y animales terrestres). Consej. de Medio Ambiente y Ordenaci ó n Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias, Tenerife, pp. 122-172.

Aedo, Carlos, Medina Domingo, Leopoldo, Barberá, Patricia and Fernández-Albert, M. (2015). Extinctions of vascular plants in Spain. Nordic Journal of Botany 33(1): 83-100. https://doi.org/10.1111/njb.00575

Beierkuhnlein, Carl, Walentowitz, Anna and Welss, Walter. (2021). FloCan—A Revised Checklist for the Flora of the Canary Islands. Diversity 13(10): 480. https://doi.org/10.3390/d13100480 [Supplementary Information (S1-S6)]

Buch, L. (1825). Physikalische Beschreibung der Canarischen Inseln. Berlin.

Christenhusz, Maarten J. M. and Govaerts, Rafaël. (2023). Uitgestorven. Op plantenjacht rond de wereld: 1-511. Sterck & De Vreese.

Christenhusz, Maarten J. M. and Govaerts, Rafaël. (2024). Plant extinction in the Anthropocene. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boae045 [Appendix S1]

García Criado, M., Väre, H., Nieto, A., Bento Elias, R., Dyer, R., Ivanenko, Y., Ivanova, D., Lansdown, R., Molina, J. A., Rouhan, G., Rumsey, F., Troia, A., Vrba, J. and Christenhusz, M. J. M. (2017). European Red List of Lycopods and Ferns. Brussels, Belgium: IUCN. iv + 59 pp.

Hassler, Michael. (2004-2023). World Ferns. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World. Version 17.2; last update Oct. 20th, 2023. Available at: https://www.worldplants.de/ferns/ [Accessed 29 October 2023]

Maxon, William R. (1915). Polypodium marginellum and its Immediate Allies. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 42(4): 219-225. https://doi.org/10.2307/2479651

POWO. (2023). Grammitis quaerenda Bolle. Plants of the World Online (online resource). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/ [Accessed 29 October 2023]

Roskov Y. et al. (eds.). (2018). World Ferns: Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Schäfer, H. (2001). The Grammitidaceae, Pteridophyta, of Macaronesia. Feddes Repertorium 112: 509-523.

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