Anemia mexicana

Anemia mexicana
Mexican flowering fern (A. mexicana)
Conservation status
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Polypodiophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Schizaeales
Family:	Anemiaceae
Genus:	Anemia
Species:	A. mexicana
Binomial name
Anemia mexicana Klotzsch

Anemia mexicana, the Mexican flowering fern, is a fern species in the genus Anemia , sometimes called flowering ferns. It is native to much of Mexico and the Edwards Plateau and Trans-Pecos regions of Texas. The "flowers" are upright fertile fronds that can be mistaken for true flowers. ^{[1] [2]}

Description

The fronds of Anemia mexicana arise at intervals (rather than in a tight clump) from a horizontal rhizome about 2 millimeters (0.08 in) in diameter, covered with stiff, dark brown hairs. The fronds are upright and are, in total, 30 to 60 centimeters (10 to 20 in) long, occasionally as short as 15 centimeters (5.9 in). About half of that length is the stipe (the leaf stalk, below the blade), which is about 1 millimeter (0.04 in), hairless, and straw-colored. ^[3]

References

1. Mickel, John T. (1981). "Revision of Anemia subgenus Anemiorrhiza (Schizaeaceae)". Brittonia. 33 (3): 413–429. doi:10.2307/2806431. JSTOR   2806431. S2CID   84353348.
2. Diggs Jr., George M.; Lipscomb, Barney L. "Anemia mexicana". Ferns of Texas: A web portal for "The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas.". Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
3. Mickel, John T.; Smith, Alan R. (2004). The Pteridophytes of Mexico. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden. Vol. 88. Bronx, New York: New York Botanical Garden. p. 55. ISBN   978-0-89327-488-7.