Phlegmariurus

Phlegmariurus
Phlegmariurus phlegmaria growing in the Cambridge University Botanic Garden
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Lycophytes
Class:	Lycopodiopsida
Order:	Lycopodiales
Family:	Lycopodiaceae
Subfamily:	Huperzioideae
Genus:	Phlegmariurus (Herter) Holub
Species
See text.

Phlegmariurus is a genus of lycophyte plants in the family Lycopodiaceae. The genus is recognized in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), but not by some other sources, which keep it in a broadly defined Huperzia.

Taxonomy

The genus was first described in 1909 by Wilhelm Herter as the section Phlegmariurus of the genus Lycopodium. The section was elevated to a genus by Josef Ludwig Holub in 1964.

Within the family Lycopodiaceae, Phlegmariurus is placed in the subfamily Huperzioideae. A phylogenetic study in 2016, employing both molecular and morphological data, concluded that either a one-genus or a three-genus division of the subfamily produced monophyletic taxa. The authors preferred the three-genus division, recognizing Huperzia, Phlegmariurus and Phylloglossum. Their preferred hypothesis for the relationships of the three genera was:

The majority of the species formerly placed in a broadly defined Huperzia belong in Phlegmariurus. However, the genera are difficult to separate morphologically, and others have preferred the one-genus division of the subfamily.

Species

As of January 2023, the Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World accepted over 300 species:

One hybrid is known:

• Phlegmariurus × koolauensis W.H.Wagner