Todea

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Todea
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous–Recent
Todea barbara, Molweni-boloop, Krantzkloof NR, a.jpg
Todea barbara
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Osmundales
Family: Osmundaceae
Genus: Todea
Willdenow ex Bernhardi
Type species
Todea africana
Willdenow 1802
Species

The fern genus Todea is known from only two living species. Species in the genus Todea, as Leptopteris , are distinct from other in Osmundaceae in that sporangia are born on laminar pinnules.

Contents

Description

The species in the genus have a sub-erect stem and coarse, pinnate leaves. Many large sporangia are located on the bottoms of the leaves and are not arranged in sori or covered by an indusium. [1]

Species

Only two extant species are currently recognised. Todea barbara L., known as the king fern, is native to South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia while Todea papuana H. is known only from Papua New Guinea.

So far the fossil record of the genus Todea consists only of the permineralized rhizome Todea tidwellii from the Lower Cretaceous of Vancouver Island, Canada and the species Todea amissa, known from the Eocene of Patagonia, Argentina. [2] Todea minutacaulis has also been described from the Lower Cretaceous of Vancouver Island and represents the first anatomically preserved fossil fern sporeling from the fossil record.

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Osmundaceae is a family of ferns containing four to six extant genera and 18–25 known species. It is the only living family of the order Osmundales in the class Polypodiopsida (ferns) or in some classifications the only order in the class Osmundopsida. This is an ancient and fairly isolated group that is often known as the "flowering ferns" because of the striking aspect of the ripe sporangia in Claytosmunda, Osmunda, Osmundastrum, and Plensium. In these genera the sporangia are borne naked on non-laminar pinnules, while Todea and Leptopteris bear sporangia naked on laminar pinnules. Ferns in this family are larger than most other ferns.

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References

  1. Levyns, M.R. (1966). A Guide to the Flora of the Cape Peninsula (2nd Revised ed.). Juta & Company, Limited. OCLC   621340.
  2. M. R. Carvalho; P. Wilf; E. J. Hermsen; M. A. Gandolfo; N. R. Cuneo; K. R. Johnson (2013). "First record of Todea (Osmundaceae) in South America, from the early Eocene paleorainforests of Laguna del Hunco (Patagonia, Argentina)". American Journal of Botany. 100 (9): 1831–1848. doi:10.3732/ajb.1200637. hdl: 11336/5393 . PMID   24018858.

Bibliography