Vittaria graminifolia (Pteridaceae) and Didymoglossum petersii (Hymenophyllaceae) in Broxton Rocks, GA

—We report on the occurrence of independent gametophytes of Didymoglossum petersii and both gametophytes and sporophytes of Vittaria graminifolia in the Broxton Rocks Preserve of southern Georgia. This is the first time sporophytes of V. graminifolia have been observed in the United States. In order to unambiguously identify both taxa, we extracted DNA for each. In the case of V. graminifolia, we used BLAST to compare our results to sequences in GenBank for two plastid loci (rbcL and rpoA) to determine its affinities. Because there are no GenBank data for D. petersii, it was necessary to collect an additional specimen of this species for comparison in a phylogenetic analysis. Results confirm the identity of each specimen and provide insight into the biogeographic history of D. petersii.