Pilularia

Pilularia
	Pillwort, Pilularia globulifera
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Polypodiophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Salviniales
Family:	Marsileaceae
Genus:	Pilularia; L.
Type species
	Pilularia globulifera; L.
Species
	See text
Synonyms
	Calamistrum von Linné ex Kuntze 1891;

Pilularia or pillworts is a genus of unusual ferns of family Marsileaceae distributed in North Temperate regions, Ethiopian mountains, and the southern hemisphere in Australia, New Zealand, and western South America.

Depending on the taxonomic revisor, the genus contains between 3 and 6 species of small plants with thread-like leaves, and creeping rhizomes. The sporangia are borne in spherical sporocarps ("pills") which form in the axils of leaves. Pilularia minuta from SW Europe is one of the smallest of all ferns.

List of species

Recent work from Pryer Lab^[1] accepted four species of Pilularia, with a fifth, P. novae-zealandiae, being conspecific with P. novae-hollandiae. In addition, another species, P. dracomontana, has been described from South Africa.^[2]

Phylogeny of Pilularia^[3]^[4]

Pilularia

P. novae-hollandiae A.Braun (Austral pillwort)

P. minuta Durieu (least pillwort)

	P. americana A.Braun (American pillwort)

	P. globulifera L. (Common pillwort)

Other species include:

P. bokkeveldensis Crouch 2012
P. dracomontana N. R. Crouch & J. Wesley-Smith (Dragon-Mountain pillwort)
P. ethiopica Eb.Fisch., Killmann, Mark.Ackermann & Yeshitela ^[5]

References

^ Nagalingum, Nathalie S.; et al. (2008). "Assessing phylogenetic relationships in extant heterosporous ferns (Salviniales), with a focus on Pilularia and Salvinia" (PDF). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 157 (4): 673–685. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2008.00806.x. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
^ Crouch, N. R. & J. Wesley-Smith. "Pilularia dracomontana, a new species of pillwort from the Kwazulu-Natal Drakensberg, South Africa". Retrieved 8 October 2014.
^ Nitta, Joel H.; Schuettpelz, Eric; Ramírez-Barahona, Santiago; Iwasaki, Wataru; et al. (2022). "An Open and Continuously Updated Fern Tree of Life". Frontiers in Plant Science. 13: 909768. doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.909768. PMC 9449725. PMID 36092417.
^ "Tree viewer: interactive visualization of FTOL". FTOL v1.6.0 [GenBank release 259]. 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
^ Phytotaxa

UK Biodiversity Action Plan
Preston, C.D. & Croft, J.M. (1997). Aquatic Plants in Britain and Ireland. Harley Books, pp. 31–32.

External links

Pilularia globulifera UK distribution

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[1] Nagalingum, Nathalie S.; et al. (2008). "Assessing phylogenetic relationships in extant heterosporous ferns (Salviniales), with a focus on Pilularia and Salvinia" (PDF). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 157 (4): 673–685. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2008.00806.x. Retrieved 8 October 2014.

[2] Crouch, N. R. & J. Wesley-Smith. "Pilularia dracomontana, a new species of pillwort from the Kwazulu-Natal Drakensberg, South Africa". Retrieved 8 October 2014.

[3] Nitta, Joel H.; Schuettpelz, Eric; Ramírez-Barahona, Santiago; Iwasaki, Wataru; et al. (2022). "An Open and Continuously Updated Fern Tree of Life". Frontiers in Plant Science. 13: 909768. doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.909768. PMC 9449725. PMID 36092417.

[4] "Tree viewer: interactive visualization of FTOL". FTOL v1.6.0 [GenBank release 259]. 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.

[5] Phytotaxa

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