Pteris

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information

Wikipedia links:       Monilophytes > Polypodiales  > Pteridaceae > Pteris 

Other links:    

Species:   P umbrosa

Plant  information

Common name:         ... 

Conservation status: ...

Etymology:   

• The Latin genus name Pteris refers to the Greek name for fern (also meaning feathery)

• The term "brake", used for members of this genus, is a Middle English word for "fern" from southern England

• Its derivation is unclear, and is generally thought to be related to "bracken", whereby the latter word has been assumed to be a plural, as with "children", and the former word a back-formation

• However it may have a separate derivation

Spores:                            

Leaves:         

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

Habitat:   

Distribution:                  

• They are native to tropical and subtropical regions, southward to New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, north to Japan and North America

Species:                     

• World:            ~ 300

• Australia:      . . .

• 78 species (35 endemic) are found in China

Additional notes:     

• Pteris (brake) is a genus of about 300 species of ferns in the subfamily Pteridoideae of the family Pteridaceae

• Some species of Pteris have considerable economic and ecological value, such as Pteris multifida, Pteris ensiformis, Pteris vittata can be used for ornamental purposes; as a hyperaccumulator, Pteris multifida and Pteris vittata can be used to control soil pollution

• Many of them have linear frond segments, and some have sub-palmate division

• Like other members of the Pteridaceae, the frond margin is reflexed over the marginal sori

• The outermost layer is the single layered epidermis without stomata

• The cortex is differentiated into outer and inner cortical region

• The vascular cylinder is an amphiphloic siphonostele

Sources of information:

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