Pteris vittata |
Pteridaceae |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese brake, Chinese ladder brake, ladder brake |
brake family, maidenhair fern family |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habit | Plants perennial [annual], on rock or terrestrial, of small (rarely large) stature. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | stout, short-creeping, densely scaly; scales pale brown. |
compact to creeping, branched or unbranched, dictyostelic, bearing hairs and/or scales. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leaves | clustered, 1–10 dm. |
monomorphic to dimorphic, circinate or noncircinate in bud. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Petiole(s) | green to pale brown, 1–30 cm, densely scaly; scales dense proximally, extending to and along rachis. |
usually with persistent scales proximally, lacking spines; vascular bundles 1–several, roundish or crescent-shaped in cross section. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Blade(s) | oblanceolate, 1-pinnate, (15–)25–50(–80) × (6–)13–25 cm; rachis not winged. |
1–6-pinnate, without laminar buds. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pinnae | numerous, separated proximally, closely spaced to barely overlapping distally, not remaining green through winter, not decurrent on rachis, not articulate to rachis, linear-lanceolate to linear-attenuate, simple, 2–18 cm × 4–9 mm; base asymmetrically cordate to widened or truncate; margins serrulate, prominently so near apex; apex acuminate, attenuate, or acute; scales of rachis grading into uniseriate hairs on abaxial costae, or hairs absent on abaxial costae; proximal pinnae not divided or lobed. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Veins | free, forked. |
pinnate or parallel in ultimate segments of blades, simple or forked, free or infrequently anastomosing in complex patterns. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indusia | (when present) formed by reflexed, recurved, or revolute leaf margin (false indusium). |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sori | narrow, blade tissue exposed abaxially. |
borne abaxially on veins, often confluent with age and forming a continuous submarginal band, or sporangia densely covering abaxial surface (acrostichoid); receptacle not or only slightly elevated. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sporangia | stalk of 2–3 rows of cells; annulus vertical, interrupted by stalk; spores 64 or 32 (rarely 16) per sporangium. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spores | all 1 kind, brown, black, or gray (rarely yellow), globose to globose-tetrahedral or trigonal, occasionally with prominent equatorial ridge, trilete, or trigonal, variously ornamented (usually cristate or rugose). |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gametophytes | green, aboveground, obcordate to reniform, sometimes asymmetric, usually glabrous (glandular-farinose in Notholaena); archegonia and antheridia borne on abaxial surface, antheridia 3-celled. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indument | on petioles, rachises, costae, and blades, rarely absent or commonly of hairs, glands, and/or scales, occasionally of white or yellow farina. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2n | = 116. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pteris vittata |
Pteridaceae |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Roadsides and other disturbed habitats, coastal plain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–50 m (0–200 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AL; CA; DC; FL; GA; LA; MS; SC; South America; West Indies; native to Asia [Introduced in North America]
|
Worldwide |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Discussion | Pteris vittata has escaped from cultivation. It is found on almost any calcareous substrate, such as old masonry, sidewalks, building crevices, and nearly every habitat in southern Florida with exposed limestone, notably pinelands. It is scattered throughout Florida and is sporadic, becoming less frequent to rare northward in the coastal plain. Pteris vittata varies exceedingly in size, density of scales on the rachis, presence or absence of hairs on the abaxial costae, and overall color and aspect of the leaf. As a result, it may occasionally bear a resemblance to forms of P. × delchampsii W. H. Wagner & Nauman, the hybrid between P. bahamensis and P. vittata. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Considerable disagreement exists concerning the circumscription and proper name of this family. The taxa comprising the Pteridaceae in this treatment were assigned to the Sinopteridaceae and Pteridaceae by D. B. Lellinger (1985) and were included in five families by R. E. G. Pichi-Sermolli (1977). The broad concept followed here is similar (except for the exclusion of Ceratopteris) to that espoused by R. M. Tryon and A. F. Tryon (1982), who applied the name Pteridaceae to the group. Until very recently, the newer name Adiantaceae was more commonly used. As represented in North America, Pteridaceae comprise three major evolutionary lines (the adiantoids, the pteroids, and the cheilanthoids). Characteristics holding the family together include abaxial (usually submarginal) sori that lack indusia or are protected by a reflexed or revolute leaf margin, spores that are usually globose-tetrahedral and trilete, and chromosome base numbers of 30 or 29 (rarely 27). The xeric-adapted members of the family (particularly the cheilanthoids) have undergone extensive parallel and convergent evolution, and they have frustrated attempts to produce a natural generic classification based on macromorphologic characteristics alone. Although some workers have aggregated species into a few large genera (e.g., J. T. Mickel 1979b), most tend to recognize smaller segregate genera based on a combination of morphologic, chromosomal, and biochemical data. The latter approach seems to provide a more useful, evolutionarily informative classification and is the one adopted here. Aspidotis and Notholaena are maintained here as distinct from Cheilanthes, and three recently described genera (Argyrochosma, Astrolepis, and Pentagramma) have been incorporated into the treatment. The reasons for these changes in generic circumscription are discussed under the individual genera. Genera ca. 40, species ca. 1000 (13 genera, 90 species in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Key |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source | FNA vol. 2. | FNA vol. 2, p. 122. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Pteridaceae > Pteris | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Pycnodoria vittata | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1074. 1753, not Schkuhr. (1809) | E. D. M. Kirchner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Web links |
|