Flora of North America species comparison

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Psilotum nudum

skeleton fork fern, whisk fern
Aerial shoots

to 50 cm, 4 mm diam. at base.
Appendages

0.7–2.5 mm (sterile), 1–1.5 mm (fertile).
Synangia

yellowish to greenish yellow, 2–3 mm wide.

Psilotum nudum
Habitat Low to mesic woods, thickets, swamps, hammocks, rocky slopes
Elevation 0–50 m (1100 m in Ariz.) [0–160 ft (3600 ft in Ariz.)]
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AZ; FL; GA; LA; MS; SC; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies in the Antilles; tropical Asia; tropical Africa
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Reports of Psilotum nudum in New Mexico and in west Texas remain unverified. A wide range of chromosome numbers on material outside the flora has been reported for this species: n =ca.46–56, 104, 210. Most counts, however, are based on n =52 (reviewed in P.J. Brownsey and J.D. Lovis 1987). No count is available from North American material.

Psilotum nudum occurs as a minor weed in greenhouses. Many horticultural forms—including one without appendages and with terminal synangia (A.S. Rouffa 1971)—are grown, especially in Japan.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Psilotaceae > Psilotum
Synonyms Lycopodium nudum
Name authority (Linnaeus) Palisot de Beauvois: Prodr. Aethéogam. 106, 112. (1805)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

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