Flora of North America species comparison

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Vittaria lineata

shoestring fern
Habit Plants epiphytic.
Stems

short-creeping, branched, densely scaly;

scales brown, apex attenuate, filiform.
Gemmae

tapering at ends, end cells not swollen;

body cells 4–16, rhizoid primordia on each end cell, often on 1–2 medial cells.
Leaves

10–60 cm × 1–3 mm, petioles indistinct.
Sporangia

protected by soral paraphyses that lack dilated terminal cells.
Spores

monolete.
Gametophytes

much branched.
2n

= 120.

Vittaria lineata
Habitat Epiphytic, most commonly on trunks of palms (Sabal palmetto Loddiges), in moist woods and especially along streams
Elevation 0–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; GA; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Sporophytes, now extirpated, once occurred on rock cliffs at a single site in Lincoln County, east central Georgia. Vittaria lineata is now known outside of Florida only in Camden County, in southeastern Georgia. Gametophytes commonly form the dominant cover on moist logs and tree trunks, especially the bases of Sabal palmetto palms, within the range of the sporophyte. Such populations usually contain numerous small, sexually produced sporophytes.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Vittariaceae > Vittaria
Sibling taxa
V. appalachiana, V. graminifolia
Synonyms Pteris lineata
Name authority (Linnaeus) Smith
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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