Acrostichum

Last updated

Leather ferns
Acrostichum aureum-wk-sori.jpg
Acrostichum aureum , showing sori
Acros aure 080627 0097 smlu.jpg
A. aureum growing in Indonesia
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Family: Pteridaceae
Subfamily: Parkerioideae
Genus: Acrostichum
L.
Type species
Acrostichum aureum
L.
Species
Synonyms
  • ChrysodiumFée

Acrostichum is a fern genus in the Parkerioideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae. [1] It was one of the original pteridophyte genera delineated by Linnaeus. It was originally drawn very broadly, including all ferns that had sori apparently "acrostichoid", or distributed in a uniform mass across the back of the frond, rather than organized in discrete sori. [2] This led Linnaeus to include such species as Asplenium platyneuron in the genus, because the specimen he received had sori so crowded that it appeared acrostichoid.

Since Acrostichum aureum is regarded as the type for the genus, it is now narrowly circumscribed only to the natural genus of three species, that are allied to the genus Ceratopteris . They are collectively known as the leather ferns or leather swamp ferns, genus members commonly being found in swamps. The species of Acrostichum are massive ferns, with fronds up to 3.7 m (12 ft) tall, that depend on a semi-aquatic existence. They do not withstand prolonged immersion, but require wet roots. The species Acrostichum aureum is known to have a high saltwater tolerance, growing in mangroves.

Phylogeny

Phylogeny of Acrostichum [3] [4] Other species include:
Acrostichum

A. danaeifolium Langsd. & Fisch. (Inland leather fern)

A. aureum L. (Coast/golden leatherfern)

A. speciosum Willd. (Mangrove fern)

  • A. affine(Visiani & Massalongo 1854) Gilkinet 1925 non Martens & Galeotti 1842
  • A. hesperiumNewberry 1883
  • A. justiiBaltakytė-Vienožinskienė 1958
  • A. lanzaeanum(Visiani 1858) Chandler 1962
  • A. longaevumChlonova 1960
  • A. ochoticumBudantsev 1983
  • A. primordialevon Ettingshausen 1895
  • A. silesiacumSternberg 1825
  • A. simulatumKnowlton 1900
  • A. touchovicenseKnobloch 1964
  • A. ubenseHuzioka & Takahashi 1970

References

  1. PPG I (2016), "A community-derived classification for extant lycophytes and ferns", Journal of Systematics and Evolution, 54 (6): 563–603, doi: 10.1111/jse.12229 , S2CID   39980610
  2. Coulter, John (1917). The Botanical Gazette (volume LXIV). University of Chicago Press. p.  347 . Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  3. Nitta, Joel H.; Schuettpelz, Eric; Ramírez-Barahona, Santiago; Iwasaki, Wataru; et al. (2022). "An Open and Continuously Updated Fern Tree of Life". Frontiers in Plant Science. 13: 909768. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.909768 . PMC   9449725 . PMID   36092417.
  4. "Tree viewer: interactive visualization of FTOL". FTOL v1.7.0 (GenBank release 261). 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2025.