Aglaomorpha quercifolia (L.) Hovenkamp & S. Linds is an extensively used species in traditional medicinal systems in several areas of the world due to some important medicinal properties such as antioxidant, antibacterial, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory activities. In East Timor, different parts of this fern are used either as remedies or as food. The ingestion of a broth made from its rhizome improves lactation, and young fronds of this fern are boiled and eaten with rice by the locals. Nevertheless, its chemical profile is far from being established. The present work aims to establish the chemical profile of both rhizomes and leaves n-hexane extracts by Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed the leaves richness in fatty acids with interesting nutritional values (ω−6/ω−3 = 0.68, AI = 0.59, TI = 0.30), being linolenic acid (253.71 ± 0.93 mg/g dry leaves) and palmitic acid (237.27 ± 0.59 mg/g dry leaves) the significant compounds in the extract. Whereas the rhizome extract is mostly rich in terpenoids, such as steroid, cycloartane, and hopanoid derivatives, being hop-16-ene (166.45 ± 0.53 mg/g dry rhizome) and β-sitosterol (50.76 ± 0.11 mg/g dry rhizome) the major compounds. Several compounds are reported for the first time in the species, and the data herein reported contributes to confirming the species nutritional value.

Knowledge regarding genome size allows us to infer relationships between taxa, address questions related to systematics and contribute to biodiversity studies. However, currently, less than 3% of the described Pteridophyta species have genome size estimates reported in databases, and only around one third of these are tropical species, although the tropics are home of 86% of fern diversity. The region of Timor-Leste, included in one of the 25 hotspots of biodiversity, is considered one of the richest areas of the world in terms of pteridophyte species. Nonetheless, biodiversity-driven research focused on this territory’s biodiversity is scarce. This study presents novel 2C-values for 15 species of ferns collected in Timor-Leste, using flow cytometry. Furthermore, one species of the lycophyte Palhinhaea cernua (L.) Vasc. & Franco, was also studied and its estimated genome size compared to a previous report. Estimates ranged from 10.45 pg in Selliguea feei Bory to 29.7 pg in Microsorum punctatum (L.) Copel, and are considered medium-size genomes. The data was compared with previous reports for closely related species. These are the first 2C-values for two families and seven genera of ferns, increasing the number of pteridophytes with reported C-values from 292 to 307.

A contribution for a checklist of the pteridophytes of the municipality of Uíge (Uíge province), in Northern Angola, is presented, including records from the literature and from 61 newly collected specimens. Of the 19 listed taxa, 14 are new records for Uíge province including one new record for Angola (Sphaerostephanos unitus (L.) Holttum). The family most represented is Thelypteridaceae with 6 taxa. Details on the ecology and distribution of every taxon are provided.

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