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Cretan brake, Cretan brake fern, ribbon fern

Chinese brake, Huguenot fern, saw-leaf bracken, spider brake, spider fern

Stems

slender, creeping, sparingly scaly;

scales dark brown to chestnut brown.

slender, short-creeping, densely scaly;

scales dark reddish brown to chestnut brown.

Leaves

clustered to closely spaced, to 1 m.

clustered, 1–6 dm.

Petiole

straw-colored to light brown distally, darker proximally, 10–50 cm, base sparsely scaly.

pale or brownish, 5–30 cm, scaly proximally, otherwise glabrous.

Blade

irregularly ovate, primarily and irregularly pedately divided, 10–30 × 6–25 cm;

rachis not winged;

only terminal pinna decurrent on rachis.

oblong to oblanceolate, irregularly and pedately divided proximally (as in Pteris cretica) and pinnately divided distally, 10–35 × 13–25 cm;

rachis slightly and evenly winged, wing constricted above each pinna pair.

Pinnae

1–3 pairs, well separated, blade often 5-parted with terminal pinna and 2 lateral pairs of pinnae remaining green through winter, not articulate;

sterile pinnae to 25 × 0.8–1.5 cm, serrulate;

fertile pinnae narrower than sterile pinnae, to ca. 11 mm wide, spiny-serrate;

base acute acroscopically and decurrent (sometimes narrowly and barely so) basiscopically, glabrous;

proximal pinnae with 1 (rarely 2) basiscopic lobes.

3–7 pairs, widely spaced, distal pinnae simple, adnate and decurrent to rachis;

pinnae remaining green through winter, not articulate to rachis, lanceolate to linear;

sterile pinnae wider than fertile pinnae (to ca. 1.2 cm), margins irregularly serrate to serrulate;

fertile pinnae mostly less than 5 mm, margins entire to serrate at apex;

adaxial costae with sparse, septate hairs;

proximal pinnae with 1–4 elongate basal segments.

Veins

free, simple or forked.

free, simple or forked.

Sori

narrow, blade tissue exposed abaxially.

narrow, blade tissue exposed abaxially.

2n

= 116.

Pteris cretica

Pteris multifida

Habitat Terrestrial or on rock in disturbed areas in circumneutral soils; primarily coastal plain.
Distribution
from FNA
FL; LA; Widely scattered in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; NY; SC; TX; West Indies; South America in Argentina; Brazil; native to Asia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Pteris cretica is almost pantropical in distribution (C. V. Morton 1957). Because this species is so commonly and widely cultivated and appears to escape easily in warmer regions, its native range is uncertain.

Young leaves of young plants of Pteris multifida may key to P. cretica because only the terminal pinnae may be decurrent on the rachis as in P. cretica. Juveniles of P. multifida can be separated by proximal pinnae with long-attenuate apices and thinner-textured leaves than P. cretica. Juveniles of P. cretica have proximal pinnae with acute to blunt or nearly rounded apices and thicker-textured leaves.

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Pteris multifida is found on old shady walls and masonry around cemeteries, dumps, and towns. It may no longer occur in Indiana. Juveniles of Pteris multifida may key to Pteris cretica.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Pinnae green throughout.
var. cretica
1. Pinnae with broad, white, central stripe.
var. albolineata
Source FNA vol. 2. FNA vol. 2, p. 134.
Parent taxa Pteridaceae > Pteris Pteridaceae > Pteris
Sibling taxa
P. bahamensis, P. multifida, P. tripartita, P. vittata
P. bahamensis, P. cretica, P. tripartita, P. vittata
Subordinate taxa
P. cretica var. albolineata, P. cretica var. cretica
Synonyms Pycnodoria cretica Pycnodoria multifida
Name authority Linnaeus: Mant. Pl. 130. (1767) Poiret: in Lamarck et al., Encycl. 5: 714. (1804)
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