This listing contains taxa of plants in the division Lycopodiophyta, recorded from South Africa.The lycophytes, when broadly circumscribed, are a vascular plant (tracheophyte) subgroup of the kingdom Plantae. They are sometimes placed in a division Lycopodiophyta or Lycophyta or in a subdivision Lycopodiophytina. They are one of the oldest lineages of extant (living) vascular plants; the group contains extinct plants that have been dated from the Silurian (ca. 425 million years ago).[1][2] Lycophytes were some of the dominating plant species of the Carboniferous period, and included tree-like species, although extant lycophytes are relatively small plants.[3]

23,420 species of vascular plant have been recorded in South Africa, making it the sixth most species-rich country in the world and the most species-rich country on the African continent. Of these, 153 species are considered to be threatened.[4] Nine biomes have been described in South Africa: Fynbos, Succulent Karoo, desert, Nama Karoo, grassland, savanna, Albany thickets, the Indian Ocean coastal belt, and forests.[5]

The 2018 South African National Biodiversity Institute's National Biodiversity Assessment plant checklist lists 35,130 taxa in the phyla Anthocerotophyta (hornworts (6)), Anthophyta (flowering plants(33534)), Bryophyta (mosses (685)), Cycadophyta (cycads (42)), Lycopodiophyta (Lycophytes(45)), Marchantiophyta (liverworts (376)), Pinophyta (conifers (33)), and Pteridophyta {cryptograms(408)).[6]

Names are given as listed in the source. Where the accepted name at source date differs, it is appended.

Listing

See also

References

  1. ^ Rickards, R.B. (2000). "The age of the earliest club mosses: the Silurian Baragwanathia flora in Victoria, Australia". Geological Magazine. 137 (2): 207–209. Bibcode:2000GeoM..137..207R. doi:10.1017/s0016756800003800. S2CID 131287538.
  2. ^ McElwain, Jenny C.; Willis, K. G. (2002). The evolution of plants. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-850065-0.
  3. ^ Ranker, T. A.; Hauler, C. H. (2008). Biology and evolution of ferns and lycophytes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  4. ^ Butler, Rhett A. (1 July 2019). "Total number of plant species by country". Mongabay. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Vegetation of South Africa". PlantZAfrica.com. SA National Biodiversity Institute. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at "species_checklist_20180710.csv". South African National Biodiversity Institute. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
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