Encalypta driva (sp. nov.) and its relationship to E. vulgaris in Scandinavia

Abstract

Encalypta vulgaris is well known for its wide morphological variation, here we study morphological and genetic variation of E. vulgaris in Scandinavia and compare this with the closely related E. rhaptocarpa and the morphologically similar E. mutica. Our morphological and genetic results indicate that Scandinavian plants of E. vulgaris s.l. includes two taxa, E. vulgaris s.s. and a new species here described as E. driva. The two species differ genetically by plastid markers while the included nuclear markers do not differentiate between the two. Morphologically they can be separated both by gametophytic and sporophytic characters. We also clarify the distinction between E. mutica and the newly described E. driva which have been confused in Scandinavia.