Austrolycopodium Holub, Folia Geobot. Phytotax.

Øllgaard, Benjamin, Kessler, Michael & Smith, Alan R., 2018, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. II. Lycopodiaceae, Phytotaxa 334 (3), pp. 255-294 : 257

Austrolycopodium Holub, Folia Geobot. Phytotax. 26(1): 91. 1991

= Lycopodium sect. Magellanica B.Øllg., Opera Bot. 92: 172. 1987.

This genus is characterized by sporophytes with subterranean or creeping main stems; isophylly, with leaves herbaceous throughout; pedunculate or sessile strobili; peltate sporophylls, each with a narrow terete stalk lacking a membranous basiscopic wing, lacking mucilage cavities; sporangial epidermal cells with thin, evenly sinuate sidewalls; and reticulate spores, with medium-sized, irregular meshes, unornamented on proximal faces.

Austrolycopodium occurs in Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, the Juan Fernández Islands, Costa Rica, Hispaniola, Andes from Venezuela to Tierra del Fuego, Malvinas, southeastern Brazil, South Georgia, Kerguelen, and Mount Aberdare in Kenya. Austrolycopodium superficially resembles Lycopodium and usually has been included in it. Both genera are isophyllous and have pedunculate strobili. However, Austrolycopodium is quite distinct, lacking piliferous or membranous leaf apices, having peltate sporophylls, and also having a different spore type and chromosome base number ( Lycopodium s.str., x = 34; Austrolycopodium , x = 31). The geographical distribution is predominantly austral. The greatest diversity of the group is found in southern South America. The taxonomy of the group is in need of a modern revision.