Articles on this page are available in 1 other language: Spanish (1) (learn more)

Overview

Distribution

Pteris L.:
Belize (Mesoamerica)
Bolivia (South America)
Brazil (South America)
China (Asia)
Colombia (South America)
Costa Rica (Mesoamerica)
Ecuador (South America)
El Salvador (Mesoamerica)
French Guiana (South America)
Guatemala (Mesoamerica)
Guyana (South America)
Honduras (Mesoamerica)
Java (Asia)
Kriti (Europe)
Nicaragua (Mesoamerica)
Panama (Mesoamerica)
Peru (South America)
Sri Lanka (Asia)
Suriname (South America)
Venezuela (South America)
Caribbean (Caribbean)
Mexico (Mesoamerica)
United States (North America)
Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 3.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

© Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA

Source: Missouri Botanical Garden

Trusted

Article rating from 0 people

Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Pteris longipetiolulata Lellinger:
Colombia (South America)
Ecuador (South America)
Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 3.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

© Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA

Source: Missouri Botanical Garden

Trusted

Article rating from 0 people

Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Ecology

Associations

Associations

Foodplant / sap sucker
Idiopterus nephrolepidis sucks sap of live, curled, sometimes killed leaf of Pteris
Other: minor host/prey

Trusted

Article rating from 0 people

Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Wikipedia

Pteris

Pteris (brake) is a genus of about 280 species of ferns in the Pteridoideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae.[1] They are native to tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

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 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.[2]

Selected species

Cultivation and uses

Some of these ferns are popular in cultivation as houseplants. These smaller species are often called "table ferns".

Pteris vittata (commonly known as brake fern) was discovered to have the ability to "hyperaccumulate" (absorb large amounts of) arsenic from soil. The fern was growing at a central Florida site contaminated with large amounts of copper arsenate in the soil. Dr. Lena Q. Ma of the University of Florida later discovered that it had hyperaccumulated considerable amounts of arsenic from the soil. The discovery may lead to the use of Pteris vittata as a potential bioremediation plant. [1]

References

  1. ^ Christenhusz, Maarten J. M.; Zhang, Xian-Chun; Schneider, Harald (18 February 2011). "A linear sequence of extant families and genera of lycophytes and ferns". Phytotaxa 19: 7–54. ISSN 1179-3163. http://www.mapress.com/phytotaxa/content/2011/f/pt00019p054.pdf. 
  2. ^ J. Simpson, E. Weiner (eds), ed. (1989). "brake". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edition ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-861186-2. 
Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

 

Source: Wikipedia

Unreviewed

Article rating from 0 people

Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Disclaimer

EOL content is automatically assembled from many different content providers. As a result, from time to time you may find pages on EOL that are confusing.

To request an improvement, please leave a comment on the page. Thank you!