Davallia

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information

Wikipedia links:       Monilophytes > Polypodiales > Davalliaceae > Davallia

Other links:

Species:    D pyxidata

Plant  information

Common name:         Hare's foot fern

• Also, deersfoot fern, shinobu fern, rabbit foot fern, ball fern 

Conservation status: ...

Etymology:   

• Named after Edmond Davall, an English-born Swiss botanist from the 18th century

Spores:                            

• Sporangium stalk 3-rowed

• Annulus vertical

• Spores monolete

Leaves:         

• Fronds arising from long aerial rhizomes 

• Phyllopodia (a primordial leaf or leaf axis) short & veins free

Stem & branches: 

• Stipes articulate at base

Roots:         

• Rhizomes dictyostelic, dorsiventral, densely scaly

Habit:        

• Epiphytic or epipetric ferns

Habitat:   

• Native to tropical and subtropical region

• Grow on and over thick bark on trees or on rock crevices 

• Plants are usually epiphytic, sometimes lithophytic or terrestrial

Distribution:                  

• Native to suitable regions of the Pacific, Australia, Asia, and Africa

Species:                     

• World:            40

• Australia:      . . .

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), it is the only genus in the family Davalliaceae, which is placed in the suborder Polypodiineae, order Polypodiales

  • Alternatively, the family may be placed in a very broadly defined family Polypodiaceae sensu lato as the subfamily Davallioideae.

  • The family is sister to the largest family of ferns, Polypodiaceae, and shares some morphological characters with it

• Taxonomy

  • Gymnogrammitis and Leucostegia were once included in Davalliaceae, but these are now known to belong elsewhere

  • Gymnogrammitis is in a clade with Selliguea and others in the family Polypodiaceae

  • Leucostegia is in the family Hypodematiaceae,[5] which consists of Hypodematium and Leucostegia,[6] and possibly Didymochlaena as well

  • In 2008, a molecular phylogenetic study of Davalliaceae showed that none of the polyspecific genera recognized at that time were monophyletic

  • In that same year, a revision of the family divided it into five genera

  • One of these, Araiostegiella, was newly described

  • The genus Davallia was divided into two sections, named Davallia and Trogostolon

  • Based on molecular phylogenetic studies, the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I) accepts only one genus in the family, Davallia, sinking the other genera into synonymy.

  • The study on which the PPG I circumscription is based, divides the genus into seven sections

  • The following cladogram for the suborder Polypodiineae (eupolypods I), based on the consensus cladogram in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), shows a likely phylogenetic relationship between Davalliaceae and the other families of the clade.

• Selected species

  • Many of the species of Davallia are closely related and hard to distinguish from each other

  • In 1990, a treatment of Davalliaceae estimated the number of species at 110

  • A 2008 paper listed all of the species, recognizing only 63

  • A new species, Davallia napoensis, was described in 2011 

  • The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I) suggests there are about 65 species

    • Davallia bullata - Japan, China, and tropical Asia.

    • Davallia canariensis - Macaronesia, Iberian Peninsula and Morocco.

    • Davallia denticulata - Africa, India, China, Malesia, Indonesia, Polynesia, Australia

    • Davallia divaricata (syn.: Davallia polyantha) - Tropical Asia.

    • Davallia embolostegia

    • Davallia fejeensis Hook (syn.: Davallia fijiensis) - Fiji Islands and Australia.

    • Davallia mariesii or "Squirrel's-foot fern" – tropical Asia and Malaysia

    • Davallia pectinata

    • Davallia repens

    • Davallia solida - Malaysia, Polynesia, and Queensland.

    • Davallia solida var. pyxidata - New South Wales

    • Davallia solida var. fejeensis (Hook.) Noot. - endemic to Fiji

    • Davallia tasmanii - Davallia fern, native to the Three Kings Islands.

    • Davallia trichomanoides (syn.: Davallia dissecta) - Malaysia.

• Davallia as house plants

  • Many species of Davallia are in cultivation, with Davallia tyermanii, Davallia fejeensis, and Davallia solida being perhaps the most well-known.

  • A key to the cultivated species of Davallia is available 

  • D. polypodiaceae, D. canariensis and D. trichomanoides are also grown as ornamental plants

  •  D. fejeensis is the most common Davallia species in commerce, and D. canariensis is widely grown as a house plant

  • The plants have furry rhizomes which cover the surface of the potting mixture as well as root down into it

  • The fronds are triangular in shape and about 450 mm long by 300 mm wide

  • They divide into three to four pinnae which subdivide into many pinnules

  • Davallia are often used in hanging baskets because the rhizomes split into sections and the surface is covered quickly

  • Unlike other ferns, Davallia tolerate low levels of humidity

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davallia (2023)