Anchistea

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Virginia chain fern
Woodwardiavirginica Aug2017.jpg
Sori
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Suborder: Aspleniineae
Family: Blechnaceae
Genus: Anchistea
C.Presl [2]
Species:
A. virginica
Binomial name
Anchistea virginica
(L.) C.Presl [2]
Synonyms [2] [3]
  • Blechnum virginicumL.
  • Woodwardia virginica(L.) Sm.

Anchistea is a genus of leptosporangiate ferns in the family Blechnaceae. It has only one species, Anchistea virginica (synonym Woodwardia virginica) the Virginia chain fern, which has long creeping, scaly, underground stems or rhizomes giving rise to tall (up to about 4 feet, 120 centimetres) widely separated, deciduous, single leaves. In contrast, the leaves of Osmundastrum cinnamomeum , which can be mistaken for A. virginica, grow in a group from a crown. Also in contrast to O. cinnamomeum the leaves are monomorphic without distinct fertile fronds. The lower petiole or stipe is dark purple to black, shiny and swollen, the upper rachis is dull green. The leaf blade is green and lanceolate, composed of 12 to 23 paired, alternate pinnatifid pinnae. The pinnae are subdivided into 15 to 20 paired segments that are ovate to oblong. The lower rachis is naked for about half its length. The sori or spore-producing bodies are found on the underside of the pinnae and are long and form a double row which outlines the major veins of the pinnae. In common with all ferns, A. virginica exhibits a gametophyte stage in its life cycle (alternation of generations) and develops a haploid reproductive prothallus as an independent plant. The spores are produced in red-brown sori which line the spaces (areolae) between the costa and costules. Further photographs can be found at the Connecticut Botanical Society and Ontario Ferns websites.

Contents

Taxonomy and evolution

Anchistea virginica was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1771 as Blechnum virginicum. [4] It was transferred to Woodwardia by James Edward Smith in 1793, [5] and to Anchistea by Carl Presl in 1851. [2] [6] Some sources retain it in Woodwardia, [3] but the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I) retains Presl's genus, making it the sole species in Anchistea. [2]

Fossils of Anchistea virginica have been described from the Middle Miocene of the U.S. states of Washington and Mississippi, suggesting its range was probably once much more widespread in North America. [7] [8] In the Middle Miocene, Anchistea virginica apparently occupied similar habitats as in the present day.

Distribution

Endemic to eastern North America from Florida to Nova Scotia and west to Michigan and Illinois. A. virginica is mostly found on the Atlantic coastal plain and Piedmont although it also grows in the eastern Great Lakes region as far west as Illinois. The Flora of North America website has a distribution map.

Ecology and conservation

Anchistea virginica grows in the wet soils of open wet swampy woods, acid bogs, and along streams and roadside ditches, [9] avoiding calcareous substrates. A. virginica is an important constituent of the field layer of flatwoods, Atlantic white cedar ( Chamaecyparis thyoides ) swamp forest and bay ( Magnolia virginiana ) forests. [10]

Cultivation and uses

Detail of frond Woodwardia virginica.jpg
Detail of frond

The plant is occasionally cultivated as a greenhouse or garden ornamental. Hardy to USDA Zone 3.

Related Research Articles

<i>Asplenium platyneuron</i> Species of fern

Asplenium platyneuron, commonly known as ebony spleenwort or brownstem spleenwort, is a fern native to North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It takes its common name from its dark, reddish-brown, glossy stipe and rachis, which support a once-divided, pinnate leaf. The fertile fronds, which die off in the winter, are darker green and stand upright, while the sterile fronds are evergreen and lie flat on the ground. An auricle at the base of each pinna points towards the tip of the frond. The dimorphic fronds and alternate, rather than opposite, pinnae distinguish it from the similar black-stemmed spleenwort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blechnaceae</span> Family of ferns

Blechnaceae is a family of ferns in the order Polypodiales, with a cosmopolitan distribution. Its status as a family and the number of genera included have both varied considerably. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, the family has 24 genera, and excludes genera placed in the separate family Onocleaceae. The family is divided into three subfamilies, including Blechnoideae s.s. Alternatively, the entire family may be treated as the subfamily Blechnoideae s.l. of a very broadly defined family Aspleniaceae, and include genera others place in Onocleaceae.

<i>Dryopteris filix-mas</i> Species of fern in the family Dryopteridaceae

Dryopteris filix-mas, the male fern, is a common fern of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, native to much of Europe, Asia, and North America. It favours damp shaded areas in the understory of woodlands, but also shady places on hedge-banks, rocks, and screes. Near the northern limit of its distribution it prefers sunny, well-drained sites. It is much less abundant in North America than in Europe. The plant is sometimes referred to in ancient literature as worm fern, reflecting its former use against tapeworm.

<i>Osmundastrum</i> Species of fern

Osmundastrum is genus of leptosporangiate ferns in the family Osmundaceae with one living species, Osmundastrum cinnamomeum, the cinnamon fern. It is native to the Americas and eastern Asia, growing in swamps, bogs and moist woodlands.

<i>Woodwardia</i> Genus of ferns

Woodwardia is a genus of ferns in the family Blechnaceae, in the suborder Aspleniineae of the order Polypodiales. Species are known as netted-chain ferns. The genus is native to warm temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They are large ferns, with fronds growing to 50–300 cm long depending on the species. The fossil record of the genus extends to the Paleocene.

<i>Blechnum</i> Genus of ferns in the family Blechnaceae

Blechnum, known as hard fern, is a genus of ferns in the family Blechnaceae, subfamily Blechnoideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016. Two very different circumscriptions of the genus are used by different authors. In the PPG I system, based on Gasper et al. (2016), Blechnum is one of 18 genera in the subfamily Blechnoideae, and has about 30 species. Other sources use a very broadly defined Blechnum s.l., including accepting only two other genera in the subfamily. The genus then has about 250 species. In the PPG I circumscription, the genus is mostly neotropical, with a few southern African species.

<i>Struthiopteris spicant</i> Species of fern in the family Blechnaceae

Struthiopteris spicant, syn. Blechnum spicant, is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae, known by the common names hard-fern or deer fern. It is native to Europe, western Asia, northern Africa, and western North America. Like some other species in the family Blechnaceae, it has two types of leaves. The sterile leaves have flat, wavy-margined leaflets 5 to 8 millimeters wide, while the fertile leaves have much narrower leaflets, each with two thick rows of sori on the underside.

<i>Austroblechnum durum</i> Species of fern

Austroblechnum durum, synonym Blechnum durum, is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae. The fern is endemic to New Zealand.

Wessiea is an extinct morphogenus of fern not placed in a specific family. Wessiea is known from Late Cretaceous and Middle Miocene age fossils found in Central Washington USA and Southern Alberta Canada. Two species are described in the morphogenus, W. oroszii and the type species W. yakimaensis.

Osmunda wehrii is an extinct species of fern in the modern genus Osmunda of the family Osmundaceae. Osmunda wehrii is known from Langhian age Miocene fossils found in Central Washington.

<i>Woodwardia radicans</i> Species of fern

Woodwardia radicans, the chain fern, European chain fern or rooting chainfern, is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae, mainly found in Macaronesia and southwestern Europe, but is also found in southern Italy and Crete. Growing to 1.8 m (6 ft) tall by 2 m (7 ft) broad, it is evergreen with arching fronds. The pinnae have curved, finely-toothed segments. The plant derives its common name from the linked sori on the undersides of the fronds.

<i>Myriopteris tomentosa</i> Species of fern

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<i>Liquidambar changii</i> Extinct species of flowering plant

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<i>Myriopteris lanosa</i> Species of fern

Myriopteris lanosa, the hairy lip fern, is a moderately-sized fern of the eastern United States, a member of the family Pteridaceae. Its leaves and stem are sparsely covered in hairs, but lack scales, hence its common name. One of the cheilanthoid ferns, it was usually classified in the genus Cheilanthes until 2013, when the genus Myriopteris was again recognized as separate from Cheilanthes. It typically grows in shallow, dry, soil, often in rocky habitats.

<i>Quercus hiholensis</i> Extinct species of oak

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<i>Shirleya</i> Extinct genus of plants

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Argyrochosma connectens is a small cheilanthoid fern endemic to Sichuan, China. It is the only member of its genus known from Asia. Relatively rare, it is found growing in the crevices of limestone rocks in hot, dry valleys. The species was long classified in the genus Pellaea, but after a phylogenetic study in 2015 was transferred to Argyrochosma.

<i>Myriopteris aurea</i> Species of fern

Myriopteris aurea, the golden lip fern or Bonaire lip fern, is a moderately-sized fern native to the Americas, a member of the family Pteridaceae. Unlike many members of its genus, its leaf is only modestly dissected into lobed leaflets (pinnae), which are hairy both above and below. One of the cheilanthoid ferns, until 2013 it was classified in the genus Cheilanthes as Cheilanthes bonariensis, when the genus Myriopteris was again recognized as separate from Cheilanthes. It typically grows on dry, rocky slopes, and ranges from Mexico, where it is common and widespread, and the southwestern United States south and east through Central and South America as far as Chile and Argentina.

Argyrochosma incana, the hairy false cloak fern, is a fern known from the southwestern United States through Mexico to Guatemala, and from a disjunct population in the Dominican Republic. It grows on rocky slopes and steep banks, often in forests. Like many of the false cloak ferns, it bears white powder on the underside of its leaves. First described as a species in 1825, it was transferred to the new genus Argyrochosma in 1987, recognizing their distinctness from the "cloak ferns".

<i>Telmatoblechnum serrulatum</i> Species of fern

Telmatoblechnum serrulatum, the toothed midsorus fern, is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae, native to Florida, southeastern Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, northern and western South America, Brazil, Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina.

References

  1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 Woodwardia virginica Virginia Chainfern". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 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.
  3. 1 2 "Woodwardia virginica(L.) Sm.". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  4. "Blechnum virginicum L." The International Plant Names Index . Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  5. "Woodwardia virginica (L.) Sm". The International Plant Names Index . Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  6. "Anchistea virginica (L.) C.Presl". The International Plant Names Index . Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  7. Pigg, K. B.; Rothwell, G. W. (2001). Anatomically Preserved Woodwardia virginica (Blechnaceae) and a New Filicalean Fern from the Middle Miocene Yakima Canyon Flora of Central Washington, USA.
  8. McNair, D.M.; D.Z. Stults; B. Axsmith; M.H. Alford; J.E. Starnes (2019). "Preliminary investigation of a diverse megafossil floral assemblage from the middle Miocene of southern Mississippi, USA" (PDF). Palaeontologia Electronica . doi: 10.26879/906 .
  9. McVaugh, R.; Pyron, J. H. (1951). Ferns of Georgia. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press.
  10. Barbour, M. G.; Billings, W. D. (2000). North American Terrestrial Vegetation (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Further reading